Faith: The Ascended Slayer
by angel3db
Summary: A spinoff challenge of Seraphim2db's Son of Sparda. Lost after being turned into a vampire and gaining a soul, Faith goes back to Boston to begin her destiny. Final Chapter and Epilogue added.
1. Prologue

**Faith: The Ascended Slayer**

A spinoff of Seraphim2db's Son of Sparda. Lost after being turned into a vampire and gaining a soul, Faith goes back to Boston to begin her destiny.

Disclaimer: I don't own any BTVS or Ats characters that might appear in the story. Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy do. I only own part of the plot and any character that I create.

A/N This will take place two weeks after the chapter, Dancing with the Devil in the Son of Sparda fic. So you'll have to read part of that story to figure out what's going on here. If you don't want to read it, wait to the end of the chapter and I'll have a summary.

Prologue

Boston Mass.

Night

A dark haired beauty, wearing tight leather pants and a leather duster with a black lace bra underneath stood on top of a high building, looking up at the moonlight as she flipped a stake around in her hands. As a small gust of wind whipped through her long black hair, she pondered if she should end her unlife. She knew that she couldn't stake herself, because her body would only rapidly heal the wound. She had ascended beyond such a thing. No, the only thing she could do now was wait until the sunrise and let it burn her all a way.

She couldn't deal with the things she had seen...God the things she had done. And neither side seemed to want to take her in now, good nor evil. Hearing a can being kicked in the distance, she looked down and into the city. Or more accurately into a neighboring alley.

* * *

Cathy, walked down a dark alley smiling heavily as she went into her purse for her cell phone. She had just went to the party of the year and she wanted to call and tell her friend Janice what she had missed. Pushing a strand of blonde hair behind, her ear she listened to the phone ringing.

"Hey." a soft voice said from behind her, making her let out a startled gasp.

As she turned around she saw a handsome boy around her age with dark brown hair and soft eyes.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you." he said as his soft eyes suddenly became cold and his face morphed into something demonic, making her scream. And as she did so the figure heard her from her vantage point on top of the neighboring building. "Or maybe I did."

"Please, you don't have to do this." Cathy said as she backed away from the vampire slowly. Her mind couldn't fully register what was happening, but she knew that this man...no thing was about to hurt her. "I can get you money. You don't have..." she was cut off as the vampire grabbed her; making her scream again. "Somebody help me!"

* * *

Not knowing what else to do or why she was about to do it, the figure ran across the high-rise's rooftop, grabbed hold of a loose wire cable, and jumped off the edge of the building. She swung to the alley between the buildings, like Spiderman and as she neared the ground, kicked the vampire in the face, knocking him down. As the wire swung back she did a back flip in the air as she touched down, her black leather coat billowing around her like Batman's cape. With a wicked smile on her face she turned around and sauntered toward the vampire.

"Doesn't sound like the girl's interested, ugly. Maybe you're coming off a little too strong." with a growl the vampire did a fancy karate move to get himself up off the ground as he launched into a side kick into the raven haired girls ribs.

"What's the matter with you?" the vampire asked as he looked at her, sensing that she was a fellow demon. "We're of the same kind."

"Believe me, we ain't."

Circling each other for a moment, they both let out simultaneuous growls and ran towards one another. As they fist fought the girl looked on and the raven haired beauty finally found an opening and kicked the vampire in the chest, knocking him down flat on his back in the alley.

In another impressive karate move, the vampire arched his back and leaped to his feet to engage her again. With a shake of her head, she grabbed the vampire's foot and spun him around in the air as she hurtled him into the wall. As the vampire fell to the ground again, she pulled a stake out of her belt, twirled it like an old gunslinger might, and lunged it dramatically into the vampire's chest, making it disappear in a cloud of ash.

"Thank you! Thank you! That thing was gonna kill me!" Cathy said as she ran up to the girl that had just saved her life.

"Well no shit sherlock." the mystery girl said as she turned around with a glare. "What the hell did you expect being out here in this neighborhood at night wearing that?" she said as she pointed at her short skirt and high heels. It was funny that she had said that, because usually she wore those types of clothes. "I got half a mind to kick your ass myself."

"What?" Cathy asked increduously.

"I mean lets be real. What kind of retard of a girl walks down dark alleys anymore? That's so 1985. Step into the new world." she said as she started to push her down the alley towards the lit street.

"But I was just trying to get home."

"Well take a cab next time dumby." she called after the other girl as she walked out onto the street. "Idiot."

"Ouch. That was a little harsh wasn't it Faith?" a voice said behind her.

Looking around, she spotted a weasel of a man wearing a fedora hat and some of the most tacky clothes she had ever seen. Using her vampiric speed, Faith ran in a blur and grabbed the man around the neck and lifted him off of his feet.

"Who the hell are you!" she yelled out. Seeing that he was sputtering and gasping for air, she let him go so he could answer her question.

"Wh...wil..."

"What?" she asked, after his coughing fit.

"Whistler...my name is Whistler..." he said as he grabbed his sore neck.

"Alright tacky, what the hell do you want? I'm a busy girl." Faith said as she tried to walk around him, only to stop cold at what he was about to say.

"Yeah the sunrise is in another four hours or so."

"I've heard enough of your bullshit." Faith said as she turned only to glare at him for a fews seconds. "I'm out of here."

"Don't you even want to know why you came back to Boston? You hate this city. Your Watcher's death, all the people you maimed and killed. That little girl whose life you destroyed." he said causing her to flinch at that last part. "There's gotta be a reason, right?" he said putting his hand on Faith's shoulder to stop her. "You've got a destiny..."

With that said Faith turned on Whistler, putting her hand to his throat, violently pushing him back to the wall. "Like the destiny of me becoming a Slayer."

"Faith..."

"One girl in all the world. You know the sitch..."

"Faith you don't understand..."

"Then make me understand!" she yelled as she slammed him up against the wall again.

"Ahriman was never meant to rise to power. It wasn't supposed to happen like that. The Jamaican Slayer was supposed to die and you were supposed to take her place. We never predicted that this would happen."

"We?" she asked as she tightened her grip. "Who or what is this we?"

"Them." Whistler said as he pointed up to the sky. "The Powers That Be. Listen kid, alot of people are dead or dying that shouldn't be. The balance of good and evil has been thrown out of whack. You can go either way here Faith, but we need a new champion."

"Well it ain't me." Faith said letting him go. "I ain't interested."

"Is that what Linda would want?"

"No you don't get to say that name..."

"She died believing in you kid." Whistler pressed on. "It's because she knew that you were special Faith. I know all about your mother. About the abuse she handed out to you, about all the drunken boyfriends she had over that eventually molested you. I know that when your Watcher, Linda came into your life that she was like a real mother to you. One that actually cared about you. Don't let what happened to her be in..."

"What do I have to do?" Faith asked as she interrupted him. Taken aback by her sudden willingness to cooperate, it took Whistler a few moments to finally respond. He could see it in her eyes just now that her soul was waying heavily on her.

"Just follow me kid." Whistler said as he led the way out of the alley. "And get ready to find your destiny."

Summary of what happened to Faith. The big bad of Son of Sparda, Ahriman, ordered Spike to go to Boston and watch Faith. When the time was right Kendra died, at the same time the slayer essence went into Faith Spike bit her, turning her into a vampire. So she's now an ascended Slayer. Her and Spike then cut a bloody swath from Boston to Sunnydale killing anyone in their way. Before the battle in Sunnydale was over, the Scoobies gave Faith her soul and she remembered all the evil things she had done. Refusing Buffy's help she ran off in search of herself.

So what makes an ascended Slayer so special you might ask. Just keep reading the story and you'll find out.

Please review...please


	2. Chapter 1 King pt1

A/N Yeah, I got some reviews... to Faith-rulz, this story will get intense for Faith, so keep reading and enjoy. I'm gonna try to explore her past a little bit too.

To miyangeline...hehehehehe First come, first serve. To answer your question, Spike is dead and won't appear in this fanfic, except for flashbacks. If you want to know exactly how he died then read Seraphim2db's son of sparda fic to find out It's just a little too complicated for me to explain. Don't worry though it's a pretty decent story so you won't be bored.

And as far as an Ascended Slayer, read this chapter and it'll tell a little about her strengths.

Chapter 1

King pt.1

Faith was surprised as her destiny turned out to be in a little, danky, basement apartment. Looking around the small little place from the doorway, she finally decided to settle her gaze on the man that had brought her there.

"Nice digs, now are you gonna invite me in or what?" Faith asked as she looked at Whistler expectantly.

"You don't need an invite." Whistler said as he walked into the kitchen area and grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator. "This is your place."

As he said that Faith walked through the door and saw that no barrier held her back. Walking all the way in, she sat on the couch, even as Whistler handed her a beer.

"So what, we're supposed to be roomies or somethin'?"

"No, nothing like that. This place is all yours and I've set it up so you don't have to pay any rent for this month." Whistler said as he sat down beside her and cracked open his beer. "The windows don't get direct sunlight and you've got a sewer entrance for your daytime travel."

"So what am I supposed to do for..."

"Money?" he asked with a smile. "Don't worry about it. An old friend of mine's ex girlfriend died about a year ago. I'm gonna break into her account and leech the money over to you. But for now here you go." he said taking a wad of cash and a cell phone out of his jacket and handing it over to her. He just hoped he could get to Darla's account in time.

"You're a very wierd dude." Faith said taking the money and phone.

"Hey it's my curse." he replied with a chuckle as he stood to his feet. "Before I leave I wanted to know one thing. What made you change your mind and want to help the side of good?"

"It's what you said about my past and my Watcher." she said meeting his gaze. "All the bad things I've done, maybe now I have a chance to change things. Change things like she would've wanted me too."

"Alright." Whistler said, even though he wasn't totally satisfied with the answer. He wanted her to do this for her own redemption. 'Maybe she'll figure that out in the long run.' "Well, I'll see ya later. I gotta run."

"Hey wait. Ain't you supposed to be my guide or somthin'?"

"Believe me, you're gonna figure out what you're supposed to do very soon." he said with a smile. "I'll call you on your cell phone later to check up on you. Oh and ki...Faith I wanted you to know something. You might be one of the most powerful beings on earth right now, but there are things out there more powerful then you. And even though Ahriman is dead he still has loyal disciples out there. Just take care of yourself." he said as he walked out of the door and closed it.

"So...is she one of us?" a voice asked, from the darkness in the hallway. Turning back, Whistler saw a hint of a white robed woman standing in the shadows.

"Yeah...yeah she is."

"Good." the figure said under her breath. Truth be told the Powers that be were very afraid of Faith's existence. If she were to be let loose again, without a soul...God help us all.

* * *

"Great, I don't even have cable." Faith said as she turned off her tv and threw down the remote. Looking around her apartment her mind went back to the bad things... no she didn't want to think about that.

As she was about to open her beer, intent on sitting in silence there was a knock at the door. With a sigh, she stood to her feet and opened it.

"What you forgot...who are you?" she asked, at first thinking it was Whistler. Instead it was a teenaged boy, that was around her age, wearing gothic clothes and a dogs collar.

"Whoa." he said, looking at her up and down.

"Hey, eyes up here sparky." Faith snapped. She was so not in the mood for sexual banter right now. Which was strange, because she used to always be in the mood for that. 'But that's when I was alive.' Snapping out of her inner dialogue, she realized that the guy was still talking.

"Um...yeah.." he said just now taking his eyes off of her ample chest. "I saw you coming down here with your dad a little while ago."

"He's not my pa." she replied, only for the guy to smile.

"Well my name is Micheal and I just wanted to see if you wanted to go to a rave party with me?" seeing that she was looking at him funny, he hurried on to explain himself. "Not as a date or nothin'. My boss told me to try to find some of the prettiest, fine ass girls that I could find to come and dance for him at the party. He doesn't just want to do raves anymore, he wants to expand the parties and eventually get his own club. He just needs girls to dance for him, so he can get more people to show up. So are you interested?"

"Yeah." she replied after a few moments. She had already figured that the boy was some kind of demon, because his smell was all wrong and as she looked at him closer his aura was tainted. Giving him a reassurring smile, so that he would think everything was okay she opened up the door and they both walked out into the night.

The Rave

The rave was in actuality in an elite, underground warehouse building. It looked like a combination of an old-time juke joint with a greasy, dangerous vibe. There were white-tiled walls and floors for easy hosing, chromed fittings, run-off gutters and drains. And as Faith looked around, she saw that there was no bar.

"Hey, I'll be right back." Micheal said as he grabbed her by the arm. "I'm gonna get the boss so he can check you out."

As he walked away, Faith watched the teenagers writhe on the strobe-lit dance floor. It was a heavy S&M scene, with leather, latex, tattoos and body-piercings. Turning her head she saw a D.J. wearing head-mounted spotlights orchestrating the tunes on twin- decks. Even as the music he was playing assaulted her ears, a beat so heavy it could jar the fillings from her teeth, with her advanced vampire hearing she still picked up small snippets of conversations around her. Even the voice of somebody calling her name.

* * *

Going up the back steps of the makeshift club, Micheal opened a door to a darkened room. As he went inside, all he could see was the faint puffs of smoke, from a cigar, and some glowing red eyes sitting in the shadows.

"How many girls have you brought to me?" a deep, devilish voice asked.

"Just one." Micheal said with a smile.

"You dare only bring me..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa boss just wait until you meet her." Micheal said as he walked into the room and opened up the blinds beside his mysterious benefactor.

As he did so, a small amount of light spilled into the room, exposing a red scaled, three fingered hand that held onto a half used cigar. The other part of his boss however, was still hidden in shadow.

"And when you do you'll see why I chose her."

Giving his lackey a sideways glance, the red demon looked out of the blinds and onto the dance floor. As Micheal pointed out the girl he had chosen, his boss was about to destroy him, until he reached out with his demonic senses and scanned her.

He originally thought that she was a vampire, but there was something more about her. Something more powerful then he had ever sensed in this dimension. And to top it all off she had something, that he desperately needed. She had a soul.

"You have done well, Micheal." the demon said as he closed the blinds. "Now bring her to me."

* * *

As Faith looked around, for the familiar voice that called her name, she saw a black bald headed youth running in her direction. It only took her a second to recognize the man that was running, through the swaying bodies, towards her.

When she was about eleven and ran away from home, to get away from her mother's abuse and the molestation of her John's, he had taken her in off the streets. He let her join his gang and he had personally taught her how to fight. Without him, she didn't know how far she would have even gotten on the streets. She would have thought of him as a father figure, but he was only four years older then her. Which led her to always think of him, as her older brother.

After about two years of learning and hanging with his group, it all started to fall apart and certain members of the gang ended up dead. She would forever remember that he had came to her one morning, and he had made sure that it was the morning, and had given her a lot of money before telling her to leave. His only excuse being that it was too dangerous where he was and that he wanted her to be safe. That was the last time she had ever seen him.

Not knowing where else to go she returned home. Her mom was so out of it and dazed that after two years she didn't even realize that she was gone. But after about a week she had noticed a drastic change in her daughter. When she had went to hit Faith, for spilling some beer, Faith had nearly snapped her arm like a twig. After that incident she had never raised her hand to her again and Faith could tell why. It was out of fear.

Another couple of years had passed and her mother had finally died from a massive drug overdose. Faith didn't know, how hard she took her mother's death until the first of her tears fell. And that's when Linda had came into her life and told her that she was special and that she had a destiny. When she had later tried to go back to the old spots where her old gang used to hang, she still couldn't find him. But now here he was...

"King?" she asked as he ran up to her.

"It's been a long time." he said as he pulled her into a reluctant hug. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing." she said as he let her go.

'I think she's old enough to know about vampires and demon's now.' King thought to himself as he looked at her and grabbed her hand. As he did so, he noticed how ice cold they seemed. Like that of a dead persons. Looking at her more closely he noticed how pale her skin was and that she wasn't breathing. 'Damnit.'

"Let's go out back so we can talk alone." King said as he led her across the dance floor and out the back of the warehouse. All the time missing the sad look on her friend's face.

"So what's up?" Faith asked as they stood in a darkened alley. "What are you..."

"First things first." King said as he put his hand under his jacket. "I just wanted to tell you something, I should've told you a long time ago. I love you Faith!" he yelled as he took a stake out and jammed it deeply into her heart. Confused, as she just stood there looking at him, instead of crumbling into dust, he took a step back and looked at her in awe.

"What the hell are you?"

"I don't know." Faith whispered even as she took the stake out of her chest, her wound stitching itself back up instantly.

"I'll tell you what she is." a voice said behind them. "She's the bosses new toy." Micheal said as his face morphed into something demonic. As he did so a dozen other vampires materialized out of the darkness and surrounded them.

"Hmmm, I always knew I'd go out fighting." King replied, as he got into a defensive stance.

"And you will go out." Micheal said with a growl. "Kill the human, but keep the girl alive." with a growl all of his minions sprang together as one.

As five vampires ran past her to fight King, Micheal lunged at her and she shoved him, hard, making him fly backward into some large tubes. Seeing what happened to their Sire, the other vamps then attacked her.

Seeing them come at her in all directions Faith backhanded a vamp, kicked another one in the face, then spun around to punch another one. A female then attacked her with a long sharp edged staff and seeing it coming Faith punched her hard in the face, took the staff and used it to stake a vamp behind her. She hit the woman in the face with the staff, dusted a vamp to the right of her, punched another one, and quickly dusted three more vamps with three quick jabs of the staff.

Pausing from her killing frenzy, she faced down the woman vampire of the group. Growling, the girl ran at her, and as she flew over her head Faith staked her, sending down a plume of dust. Turning she put the staff to the throat of the last vamp, Micheal, who stood still looking scared.

"What did your boss man want with me?" Faith asked.

"I ain't telling you..." he stopped talking when Faith lowered the staff, so that it hovered over his heart. "Okay he's..."

Before Micheal could spill the beans, Faith heard a loud grunt making her slowly lower the staff. Micheal looked surprised, then turned and began to run away down the alley. Turning Faith saw King getting beaten down by a group of vampires. Deciding what was more important she lifted the staff and threw it like a javelin. It flew down the alley and dusted Micheal as he ran, even as she turned around to help her life long friend.

* * *

As soon as the vampires ran up to him one tried to swing at King, who ducked and punched back. Seeing that he was about to be over-taken King straightened his arms, unfurling the stakes he had hidden up his sleeves. He staked the first one that attacked him, but had to fight off the others with more difficulty.

Kicking another one in the stomach, making it double up, he turned and staked another one, but didn't see the other two sneaking up behind him. A barrage of blows then rained down on him by his unknown assailants, knocking him down to the ground. His body on fire from the abuse, he pulled himself back up onto his knees only to forced down again.

Suddenly hearing an anguished cry, that was not his own, he looked up to see a vampire crumbling into dust. As the cloud of ash dissipated, he saw Faith looking down at him before darkness claimed him.

Seeing her mentor lose conciousness, did something to Faith. Shifting into her vampiric face, she let out a horrible guttaral growl before she attacked the three remaining vampires at once. Ducking under a clumsy left, she came back up and grabbed one around the neck. Before it could even let out a startled gasp, she leaned forward and snapped his neck like a twig.

As his body hit the ground, she snacthed her stake out of her belt and ran forward with amazing speed and staked both vampires, sending both of their bodies crumbling into dust in a matter of seconds. Dropping her weapon to the ground, she turned around and saw King, laying on the ground motionless. Shaking off her vampiric face she ran over to him, picked him up, marveling at how weightless he seemed. When she was young he would always pick her up, like this when she had fallen... shaking the memory out of her head she ran off into the shadows, not knowing that somebody was watching them. Closing the top of the video camera, a figure jumped off the neighboring building and smiled a devilish smile.

* * *

"Boss. Micheal and his gang are gone!" a vampire shouted out as he ran into his demon bosses office.

"What do you mean gone?"

"They're dust."

"Find whoever did this and..."

"I already know who it was." a voice said from the shadows. Startled, the red demon and the vampire looked up to see a man, probably in his twenties with slicked back short white hair, wearing a finely cut pin-striped suit and circular glasses.

"And who might you be?" the demon asked, sensing some power from him.

"He's dead meat." the vamp growled as he ran forward, only for the stranger to punch him on the point of his chin, shattering his head with the force of the swing.

"My name is Gil." the suited man replied, as he wiped the vampires blood and dust off his hand with a handkerchif.

"I like your style Mr. Gil." the demon replied, as if nothing had just happened. Sitting back in his chair, even as the music thumped from outside, he lit up a cigar and eyed the man carefully. "You can call me Damon. Now what information do you have for me?"

Bending down Gil picked up a camcorder, walked over to Damon's desk and clicked it on. As he did so, they both watched the images of King and Faith fighting off a band of vampires. When it showed a closeup of King's face Gil, pushed the pause button, freezing the black youth's face on the screen.

"His name is Malik 'King' Jones. He is twenty one and has been fighting vampires and demons since the age of twelve."

"Yes, me and King know of each other." Damon said, even as he subconciously rubbed at the scars on his arms, King had given him years ago. "Now tell me of the girl." he said as Gil replayed the tape and stopped on Faith's face.

"Her name is Faith Christina Lehane. She is what is known as an Ascended Slayer."

"What?" Damon asked. 'A Slayer. Here?'

"Some time ago a powerful demon arose named Ahriman. He used a vampire to turn her at the same time she was supposed to be called, trapping the Slayer essence inside of her. She is immune to being staked in the heart, holy water, and crucifix's. Her only weaknesses are decapitation, fire, and sunlight."

"And just where do you get your information, Mr. Gil?"

"Around." he replied, as he picked up his camcorder. "If you don't want my help then I'll peddle my wares elsewhere."

"On the contrary it seems that I do need your help." Damon assured him. "Now please have a seat and tell me of your...talents." he said thinking of how easily he had just slain a vampire. With a devilish smile, Gil sat in a chair beside his desk and the two started to talk.

* * *

Coming back into the realm of conciousness, King opened his eyes and saw that he was inside a small bedroom with peeling wallpaper. As he tried to sit up, he looked up on the bedpost, of the bed he was laying in and saw that his hands were tightly bound by ropes.

"It's about time you woke up." he heard Faith's voice echo in the room. Looking around he saw her at the entrance of the doorway, wearing nothing but leather pants and a bra. "You have a hard head, I don't know why it took you so long to wake up."

"Shut the hell up and kill me already!" King growled, as he struggled against his bonds. "That thing inside of you killed my friend and..."

"You're right." Faith said as she sashayed into the small bedroom and erotically straddled him. " 'Cept the girl I was, died long before the demon took over."

"What the hell happened to you? I staked you through the heart and you didn't die." giving him a sad look, she explained to him all about Spike, Sunnydale, and all of the things she had done to get there and back again.

"A soul?" King asked incredously at the end of Faith's story. "How dumb do you think I am? Vamps don't have souls."

"Well, I do."

"Prove it."

"Didn't me not killing you prove it enough?" she asked angrily. "I saved your ass and since we're playin' twenty questions how long have you known about demons?"

"Since I was a little kid." he replied. "I didn't want you to get hurt when you were with me and the gang so I never told you what was going on. What did you think me and the gang were doing all that time when we left you at the shelter and came back with all that gunk on us?" as he said that Faith noticed a twinge of pain in his eyes as he said his gang.

"Where are they? The gang I mean." she clarified as he looked up at her. "JT, Terrance, Jus..."

"They're all dead." he interrupted. "We found out that alot of kids were turning up missing, when they went to that demons rave parties. They went to investigate, while I went to gather other leads. We were supposed to meet back up at the hangout, but they never showed. I looked for them for awhile until I got a lead. When I followed it, I found their bodies torn to bits at the city dump."

Closing her eyes, Faith thought back to all the good memories she had with her old friends. To her they were her family.

"I was just gonna do a little recon tonight and see what was going on."

"Well let's just finish the damn job." Faith said as she moved to take off his bonds, only to find that they had already been undone.

"I cut through them when we were having our little chat." King said as he sat up, with Faith still in his lap. A moment of heat went past them for a second, as they stared at each other, King holding her around the waist and Faith with her hands on his shoulders. Shaking off the feeling, Faith got off of him just as King quickly got out of bed.

"So this is a nice place you got here." King lied as he took a look around.

"I'll take your word for it." Faith replied as she rolled her eyes.

"I'm gonna be completely honest with you Faith." King said giving her a look. "I'm normally a good judge of peoples character and I can tell when people are lying to me. Except you. You're the only person I've ever met who could lie to me and I'd never know."

"Oooo do I win a prize?"

"No, I just wanted you to know that if I find out that you're lying to me about anything, I'll kill you myself. Or die trying." because as far as he was concerned, Faith could have met his boys at the club and had tricked them into their death.

"But until then we're five by five right?"

"Yeah." he said with a smile at her old catch phrase. He really missed her. "We're five by five."

"Good, now let's talk about that you loving me thing." she said teasingly as she grabbed her duster off the couch and walked out of the door.

An hour later

"This place is dead." King said over to Faith as he twirled his homemade battle ax in his hand. As soon as they had made it too the club, King had went to his old pick up truck and gotten a few weapons for them too use.

"Not yet." Faith said under her breath as she looked up towards the staircase. She could sense two powerful forces coming from the top of it. "Come on let's do this."

As they walked up the stairs and came to a door, Faith lifted up her foot just as King readied his ax. Giving her a nod, Faith kicked the door in splintering wood and sending sawdust floating in the air. Shifting into her vampiric guise they strolled into the room and gaped at what they saw.

Mr. Gil was standing there leaning up against a desk, hitting the dull side of his katana against his shoulder with a sadistic smirk on his face. Even though Faith had never met him before, she was sure that she should have known him from somewhere.

Behind him however, standing for the first time as the lights cut on in the room, the hulking figure of Damon smiled widely at them. He had red skin, with small black horns, wearing a nice expensive suit. As his tail stopped wagging, doggishly behind him, he alternated his gaze between Faith then King.

"We've been expecting you two."

Please review...please


	3. Chapter 2 King pt2

A/N Thanks for all the great reviews. I'm really glad you guys like my story. I'm working on some new chapters, so hopefully this one will hold you over until I post it. Thanks again to Poetic Ragdoll, Faith-rulz, Jess5x5, and miyangiline for reviewing and please continue.

Chapter 2

King pt.2

"We've been expecting you two." Damon said as he pushed over his desk violently, walking purposefully toward King.

"You!" King growled, his voice full of hatred as he lifted up his ax and attacked.

Flashback

Boston

1989

A young King swung the door inward to his house and entered his darkened home. Taking his backpack off his back and setting it on the floor, he walked into the dining room and saw a set of family pictures on the mantle showing his father, mother, his little sister and himself.

He had remembered when they had taken that photo like it was yesterday. They were all so happy that their father had come home from a long business trip, that they had decided to take a family photo. Examining some red spots on the dining room table, he smelled a strange stench, then sniffed the air.

"What is that?" he asked himself as he looked into the living room and stared in shock. His entire family had been slaughtered, parents and sister alike. They lied strewn about the living room, their clothes smeared with gore.

"No..." he said to himself as he took a step back only to bump into a hard body. Looking back, he saw a towering red demon, with blood dripping from his fangs and claws.

Quickly recoiling back with a scream, he hit the wall and banged up against something metal. Turning he saw that it was one of his father's collectable battle ax's. As he saw it, it did something too him inside. Something that manifested into a strong hatred. Taking it off the wall he spun around and hit the demon in a quick series of blows.

Not being able to dodge the attack quick enough from the little boy. The demon hissed in pain as he was struck on the arms and abdomen with the viscious weapon. Ducking under the demons razor sharp claws, King came up and chopped the demon in the leg, leaving his weapon embedded in it's thigh. With a horrible shriek, the demon back handed King across the face sending him crumbling up against a wall.

With one yank, he took the weapon out of his leg, spilling out black demonic blood as he did so and held it over his head ready to end the little boys life. As the blade started to go down, Damon heard a door being knocked down behind him. Turning and stopping the blade in mid-swing, he saw a man wearing full tactical body armor and a ski mask standing at the front door.

Choosing then to use his demonic speed, he was just able to dodge a shotgun blast. Seeing more of the commando's coming into the room he ran, with the ax in hand, out the back.

"Follow him and eliminate him on sight." the lead commando said, to the others. Following their orders they ran to try to find Damon. Looking down at the little boy, who was just then regaining conciousness, the commando walked over to him and took off his mask. "Kid are you alright?"

End Flashback

When King had awoken, the commando's had taken him to a secret base and had told him the truth about his father. It turned out that he really wasn't a business man at all, but rather a demon hunter for the government. He had killed a group of P'tock demons by himself in the sewers, but he hadn't killed them all.

Swearing vengence Damon found out where he lived and took him and his family out. His unit found out about it, but got to him too late.

Taking in too much after the first day with his rescuers King had sneaked off of the base and ran away. The first day on the streets were rough for him, but he was found by a gang and taken care of. To his surprise they knew of demons and they had trained him how to fight.

Snapping out of his reverie, he looked behind the demon coming towards him and saw his father's ax hanging on a wall. Damon had kept it after all these years as if it were a trophy. His anger building, he lifted up his ax and ran towards his opponent.

* * *

"So Suits, I see you and your boss man like hurting kids." Faith said cracking her knuckles as she stared at her opponent evenly. 

"Actually, my name is Gil." he replied as he layed down his sword, to play fair. For now. "And the only kid in this room, I want to hurt is you."

Responding to being called a kid Faith punched Gil hard in the face, not making him flinch at all.

"Ha ha ha! Really now is that all you got?"

With a growl she kicked him, but he grabbed her leg and pushed her down. She then kicked his shins, but he jumped up, even as they exchanged a quick series of blows. Taking her by surprise he picked her up off the ground by her neck.

"An ascended Slayer?" Gil asked as he looked her up and down. "There's nothing special about you." with that said he threw Faith through the window; making her plummet from the third-story window and crash down onto the roof of a parked car, caving it in and shattering the windows.

"Faith!" King yelled out as he saw her falling out of the window. Looking back towards his nemesis, who was whimpering on the ground from his attack, King debated about what to do.

Finally he had his enemy where he wanted him. With just a few more chops and a decapitating blow, Damon would be finished and he could retrieve his fathers axe. 'But what about Faith?' His mind screamed at him.

'She's a vampire right?' But she had also said she was a Slayer as well. For all he knew she was more human then anything and was hurting. His decision made, he ducked under Gil's lunge for him and ran out of the open door.

As he made it downstairs, he was just in time to see Faith rolling off of the car, bleeding heavily from the mouth before slipping back into her human face. Dropping his axe, he put an arm around her shoulder to help balance her.

"Let me go." she said as she let some spittle fall from her mouth before spitting it on the ground. "That son of a bitch..."

"Is gonna wait until later. Now come on." he ordered as he picked up his axe and helped her to his truck. As they drove off, Gil stood at the broken window of the building and smiled as they drove off into the night.

* * *

"Why...why did you let them go?" Damon asked as he weakly walked up behind Gil. 

"Because if I've let them live then they wouldn't learn anything."

"And just what did you want them to learn, Mr. Gil?" the demon asked as he sat his desk back upright and sat down.

"I wanted them to learn fear." he replied as he put his glasses back on. "Now I suggest that we leave and find a new base of operations."

* * *

"Damn that dude was strong." Faith said with a slight wince as she sat down on her couch. 

"Yeah and you should be stronger." King said as he sat down next to her. "Listen, I ain't no demon, but I can sense tons of power from you Faith. Anybody that looks at you could tell that. Now what the hell is going on? I know for a fact I taught you to be a better fighter then that."

"I...I had to hold back. That guy was a human." she told him lamely. 'Or atleast half human." When she had sensed his power, she had noticed that apart of him was still human.

"You've gotta be kiddin' me." King said incredously. "There's no way that guy was a..." he stopped talking as he realized what she had done. "When was the last time you fed?"

"What?"

"You heard what the hell I said. When was the last time you fed?"

"About three days ago."

'No wonder she was fighting so weakly.' he thought to himself. "I'm going to go to the butcher's shop and get you some blood."

"You ain't my ma and since when do you cater to vampires?"

"Since the vampire in question is my friend." he replied a little heatedly. "You ain't human anymore Faith. You're a vampire, now get used to it."

"What crawled up your ass?"

"Just drop it..." as soon as he said those words, he turned around towards the door and saw that Faith had used her vampiric speed and was already standing in front of it.

"No, you're the one coming here trying to tell me what to do, now I want some answers."

"That demon I was trying to kill was responsible for killing my family." King said after a moment of staring Faith in the face.

"Then why the hell didn't you finish him off?" she asked.

"Because I was concerned about you!" he yelled as he pushed past her and opened the door. "Now, I'll be back in a few minutes with some pigs blood for you, so you can get your strength back. You might be a Slayer but you gotta feed that demon side of you too. We'll just figure out what to do tomorrow."

All Faith could do at that moment as he walked out of the door was stare at his retreating form. King was one of the only people in her life to give two shits about her and now he was being haunted by his own demons. Taking his advice, she sat down on her couch to get rested up.

The Next Day

Kings Workshop

"So what, you live in a garage now?" Faith asked, from her position under a blanket, as King unlocked the door to a shed.

"Ha, ha." he replied dryly as he lifted up the door. "Nah, this is where me and the gang used to keep weapons and research material. It was sorta like a sanctuary to us."

As he said that they walked inside the shed, but it was completely dark. Running his hand down the side of the wall King flipped on the lights in the shed to reveal that every square inch of the walls inside were covered with wooden crosses. By her vampiric instinct Faith took a step back, even though the crosses had no effect on her.

"You can wait back outside if you want." King told her as he gave her a sideways glance.

"I'm fine." Faith said walking fully into the room.

"Suit yourself." he said as he walked over to a bookshelf and pulled out an old tome.

"What you readin'?" Faith asked as she looked over his shoulder and saw him reading something that looked like latin.

"I already know what kind of demon, Damon is but I gotta find out what his kind does with teenagers."

"What kind of demon is he?"

"Oh um...he's a P'tock demon." he said scanning through another book.

"Well doesn't his kind slowly feed off the souls of the young?" Faith asked as she leaned on the table he was sitting at.

"How do you figure?" King asked looking up at her.

"Well, my Watcher used to always make me read these old ass books right before we went out on patrol." she replied with a shrug. "And I remembered a passage about those types of demons."

"Good then." King said as he closed the book and stood to his feet. 'Man that vampire memory is really coming in handy.' "Let's go. I put some weapons in the back of my truck last night."

As they got on the road that would lead them back to the warehouse, Faith suddenly sniffed the air and frowned.

"Stop the truck!" she yelled. Pumping on the brake, the old truck swerved in the middle of the street before finally stopping.

"What, what is it?" King asked as he looked over at her.

"We're going the wrong way."

"What? Faith I know..."

"They moved to a different place."

"And you can smell it?" King asked wierded out.

"Yeah, they're back that way." she said pointing at a building behind them. Taking her word for it, he put the truck in reverse and parked it next to the building she pointed to.

"Hey, I wanted to give you something." King said to Faith as they both got out of the truck. Going to the back of it, he pulled up the cover and threw her a broad sword and a pair of black arm guanlets.

"What are these?" Faith asked, even as she put the black devices on her arms.

"They're called wrist stake launchers." King said grabbing his axe. "You'll know what to do when the time comes. You ready?" he asked as the walked towards the door. Lifting up her foot, about to kick the door in, King suddenly grabbed Faith by the shoulder. "Let's just do this with a little more finesse." with a shake of his head, he tried the knob and the door opened onto a darkened room.

Going first, Faith walked into the building and was immediately taken off her feet by a blur.

"Faith!" King yelled as he entered and was pimp slapped hard across the face. Barely being able to look up, he was just in time to see a beefy hand grab him by the head, before being tossed into another room.

* * *

"You know I can't believe you came back for more." Mr. Gil said as he threw Faith into shelving that collapsed around her, making her land on the floor hard. With a chuckle Gil walked up to her. "I mean why are the Powers That Be, even wasting time on you? I'm not even using my full strength on you and I'm still kicking your ass." he said as he kicked her hard in the ribs, sending her flying into a cabinet. 

"Oh my torchered soul." he said squatting down and punching her in the face. "You should've stayed in the gutters whoring your way in society like your mother, but no they wanted you to be a Slayer. A champion."

"You sound jealous." Faith replied as she spat some blood out of her mouth. She was still lying on the floor, beaten, and barely moving.

"Hardly." Gil said, slapping her hard across the face. "An Ascended Slayer my ass. Just look at all that blood you're wasting Faith."

"Can you pick the one word you shouldn't have said in that sentence?" Faith asked as she shifted into her demonic facade. Spinning on the floor like a top, she kicked Gil on the back of his legs and grabbed him, standing him up so she could bite into his neck.

With a hungered growl she bit him painfully in the jugular. She then started to drink from him, holding on tenaciously as Gil struggled to get free. After a moment he was finally able to pull Faith's head away from his neck, before throwing her across the room again, but this time Faith controlled her motion, managing to rotate in the air and land on her feet.

"Damn yo." Faith started as she wiped her mouth and licked the blood off of her fingers. "Let's finish round two and I'll show you what a Slayer is made out of. And maybe later..." Faith started with a wink. "I'll make you my bitch."

With that said Gil lunged at her with a growl, throwing a punch but Faith ducked and backed up, dodging and weaving his lumbering blows.

"Damn you're slow-moving! Come on." she said with a wink. "I know you can do better then that." Gil then kept trying to hit Faith but never managed to lay a hand on her. Ducking several more blows, she then leaped high up into the rafters, landing on a catwalk far above. "What are you waiting for slo-mo? Follow me."

Angered, Gil jumped high and landed next to her on the catwalk. He then decked Faith, a full-powered punch to the head. Caught off-guard by the vicious blow, she fell back against the railing. Holding her jaw, a small smile suddenly spread across her face. Using the railing, as a brace, she pistoned her legs up and out, slamming her feet into Gil's face with bone-crushing power.

Taking the blow in stride, Gil punched her in the face, before grabbing her by the neck. Breaking free of Gil's grip, Faith punched him repeatedly in the chest and stomach. As he stumbled backwards, she sweep-kicked him in the ankles, bringing him to the floor. As he struggled to get up, Faith punched him so hard, that he flipped over the railing and fell to the ground.

Shaking her head, Faith dropped out of her vampiric face and looked over the railing. Only to see him laying on the ground, with blood pooling underneath him.

* * *

Turning his throw into a roll, King jumped to his feet and looked up at his opponent. As he did, he was just able to avoid a swipe from his father's axe. 

"You know boy, it's ironic." Damon said, twirling said weapon in hand. "That the same weapon your father used to kill my comrades will be the same one to kill you."

"I don't think so prune face." King countered with a sneer. "When this is all said and done, I'll pry that weapon from your cold dead fingers."

"Let's see about that." Damon said as he ran forward. After exchanging and dodging a series of blows, their weapons clashed together so hard that they flew out of each others hands. Balling up his fist, King hit Damon sending the demon staggering back.

Enraged Damon lunged at him, but King punched him again and again before jumping up to hold onto the ceiling rafter and kicking him across the room. Damon then spun and kicked King, but he reversed the blow and knocked the demon down. As he tried to stand back to his feet, King quickly squatted down to the floor, picked up his father's axe and spun around to chop Damon's head off.

Finally seeing his enemies head roll on the floor, King sank to his knees and let the tears he was holding back for over nine years fall. He had finally avenged his family. As his tears subsided, and upon sensing another presense in the room, he looked up to see Faith standing over him.

"Come on bro." Faith started as she extended her hand to help him up. "Let's go home."

* * *

"So what, you planning on staying with me or something?" Faith asked as King hanged his father's axe on her apartment wall. 

"Maybe." he replied as he turned around and smiled at her. "And um, Faith I wanted to apologize to you for the way I treated you earlier."

"It's not like I gave you a reason to trust me." she said, handing him a beer. "I'm a vampire remember."

"Yeah well..."

"I just want to know where do we go from here, ya know?"

"Saving one life at a time." King replied as he drank a swig of beer. "And by the looks of that guy, I saw before we left you finally got your confidence back."

"Yeah, I kicked his ass, but I hate that I didn't get a chance to use these babies." Faith said as she looked down at the weapons King had given her. It wasn't the blood that she had drank that gave her the strength. It was her finally getting used to being who she was...who she is now. "I'm just glad I don't have to listen to his ass talk anymore."

Somewhere Across Town

Sametime

A figure slowly lurched inside of an expensively decorated apartment, dripping blood on the carpet as he entered. Taking off his neck tie and his suit's jacket, he slowly walked toward a closet. Opening it he put his katana next to it's twin, while at the same time touching a baby blue jacket.

"Soon, Slayer." Gil said with a wince. "Just when you get at your weakest, I'll be there."

Another chapter down... Oh and as the story progresses different people from the Angel and Buffyverse are gonna crossover into this story. So be looking forward to that. Oh and as far as Mr. Gil he'll appear later in the story. It'll be revealed who he really is, before the end of this fic.

Please review...please


	4. Chapter 3 9 Hundred 99 To Go

A/N Takes place two weeks after chapter 2. Also this is based off an episode of Angel that was never aired. It was called Corrupt and was originally meant to be Angel's second episode but the studio pulled it, before it aired saying that it was too dark.

Also thanks for your kind words Faith-rulz. I've always been a bit shaky about my fight scenes so thanks for the compliment. I still have a way to go before I'm a good author though. And Gil will return much later in the story.

Chapter 3

Nine Hundred and Ninety-nine To Go

A Seedy Part of Boston

Night

Earl, a fortyish middle-management businessman type entered an alley, pulling Nicole, a young prostitute toward a parked Lincoln. With a smile he looked at the girl who was particularly wasted and woozy.

"Hey, hey, where we going?" Nicole asked as she pulled him back. "Thought we were gonna get a room."

"But my car's parked right here." Earl replied as he pointed up ahead, a devilish gleam in his eyes.

"No car." she all but yelled out, as she jerked her arm free. When she had first started to sell her body, she had followed a guy to his car and he had raped her. After that day she promised herself never again.

Roughly yanking her to him, he leaned her up against the car, nuzzling her neck. At that point she was too out of it to put up a fight.

"C'mon, sweets. You know me. Let's leave out the room charge tonight, huh." the weasel commented as he noticed her necklace, a round black onyx mounted in the middle of an oval ruby setting and hanging by a silver chain. Bisecting the stone was a jagged line of silver. "Hmmm...this is new. Pretty."

"I-- I don't feel so hot." Nicole said as her hand shot up to her head.

"Here. I got a nice place for you to lay down." Earl said all too happily as he opened the door and shoved her into the back seat. Taking another look around, he climbed in, both of them disappearing behind the seat.

After a few moments all that could be heard were soft moans and lips on flesh. The car's suspension then squeaked as it rocked, bounced -- slowly, subtly, then violently.

The Lincoln lurched up and down and the quiet of the empty alley was shattered by its car alarm, now blaring loudly, its taillights flashing brightly. A beastly shrienking then tore through the night emanating from inside the car, coupled with high pitched wails of pain and terror -- as wavelets of blood splashed across the window.

As an animalistic growl roared once more a pair of blood-red, ravenous, inhuman eyes darted about wildly before returning to its feeding frenzy.

The Blood Rose Bike shop

"You know smoking is gonna kill you one of these days." King loosely commented as he fanned little pumes of smoke away with his hand.

"Ha ha ha." Faith replied dryly as she dropped her spent cigarette and stomped it underfoot. "Now get your ass in here and help me pick out a bike."

"Coming dear." King joked as he followed her in. The smell of tobacco and leather wafted through the air as they entered and looked around. "And how can you afford a motorcycle anyway?"

"Like I told you." Faith said giving him a wink. Whistler had finally come through and had made a bank account for her with over one hundred thousand dollars in it. "I have friends in high places."

"You folks need help with anything?" a man in his late thirties, with balding hair asked as he walked over to them.

"Nah, I'm just...holy shit." Faith all but screamed as she ran past him and climbed on top of a beautiful silver and black Harley Davidson. "How much is this?"

"That's a 1998 Sportster 1200 Sport - XL1200S and it's right at eight thousand dollars."

"I'll take it."

"Are you sure?" the manager asked surprised after her outburst. "Do you want some time to talk this over with your boyfriend?"

"I don't need time." Faith said as she took a wad of cash out of her duster and shoved it into the man's hand. "Now go and get my key."

"Yes ma'am." the owner said all to happily as he went to draw up her paperwork and get the key as she requested.

"Little girl what the hell could you do with all that power between your legs?" a burly biker, with greasy hands and a pot belly asked as he walked towards them.

"A hell of a lot more then you could." Faith replied as she looked down at his croth.

"Why you little..."

"Hey!" King shouted as he stepped forward and grabbed the man's hand before he could slap her. "Watch it."

"Get your damn hand off of me boy!" the biker growled as his gang walked up behind him.

"Damnit, Faith can we go anywhere without getting into a fight?" King asked as he quickly turned around and decked the biker in the face.

"I hurt all over." King said a few minutes later as he and Faith, the latter wheeling out the bike, walked out of the bike shop.

"That's what you get for playing the hero." and as soon as she said those words, she heard growling in the distance with her vampiric hearing. And as she sniffed the air she picked up the metallic aroma of blood. "Get on."

"But my truck is..." at her glare, King swallowed a lump in his throat and hopped on the motor cycle, even as she started the bike and kicked down on the throttle.

Stopping by a dark alley, they both heard the wet sticky sounds of teeth biting into flesh. Getting off of the bike, they slowly walked into the alley and saw a car splattered with blood on the inside.

Putting his finger to his lips in a shhh gesture, after seeing some movement inside, King opened up the back seat door and was slapped on the throat by a blood gored hand. Taking a step back, he was then punched in the gut, before a figure ran past him and launched itself through a closed window across the alley.

"Damn, you okay?" Faith asked as she ran over to him.

"Just...just go..." King managed to wheeze out as he grabbed his burning throat.

As the female demon thing, wearing a miniskirt and high- heels ran down a dark alley, it took a quick look around, then scaled the side of one of the buildings only to find Faith on the roof, waiting for her.

"Going somewhere bitch?" Faith asked as she grabbed the demon around her shirt lapels and threw her the rest of the way on the roof. Turning the throw into a roll, the demon stood to it's feet and growled deeply at Faith in reply.

Looking closer at it Faith saw that it was a homicidal beast. Her huge gaping maw sported rows of sharp, needle like teeth and her eyes blazed red around black pupils. Lowering it's right arm, her hand mutated into a small wrecking ball bit of flesh. With another growl the demon hit Faith across the jaw with it's new appendage and slammed her up against a air conditioning unit. Pushing the demon off her, the thing rebounded off of a wall and came right back, swinging it's arm.

Faith then kicked her in the chest, pushing her back into the wall, and again the thing rebounded swinging it's fist. Ducking another blow Faith punched the demon in the stomach, then the back of her knee, making it drop against the wall, before crumbling to the ground unmoving. Satisfied that the thing was dead Faith was about to jump off the roof, but hadn't taken more than a couple steps before the demon popped back up and continued dispassionately.

Faith stopped and turned, blocking another swing from the demon and punching her in the gut again. The demon prostitute swung again, and again Faith blocked making it stagger back. As it sank to it's knees Faith did an almost ballet like spin and kicked the demons head right off it's shoulders. The head rolled on the roof and upon, staring at it, Faith saw that the things head had changed back into that of a pretty young girls.

Sensing a disorienting magic, Faith looked down at the girls body and saw a black oval necklace, sitting around what was left of her neck. Taking it, she jumped off the side of the roof and off into the night.

Faith's Apartment

Hours Later

The place had now been spiffed up nicely since King had moved in with her. When he had gotten an apartment right next to hers, Faith had knocked down the wall that seperated the two apartments saying that it would give them more room. When the other tennants had complained about the noise and told the manager, he had come by to see what was going on.

And when he had seen the wall, he went ballistic. But after Faith had showed him her vampiric visage, he ran like hell and had never returned.

Now cheap oil paintings and faded posters adorned the walls, mostly to cover the cracks. The outer room sported a phone, answering machine and King's refurbished computer. On a small coffee table against the wall rested a slightly stained automatic drip coffee maker and a stack of styrofoam cups.

"And you found this on that thing's body?" King asked as he sat down at his computer and held up the black necklace.

"It wasn't a thing." Faith replied as she took off her duster and stood behind him. "It was a prostitute. I recognized her from around the way, so I went out to the streets to talk to some other ho's."

"Damn and you did that without me?" King asked with a pout. At her glare he relented. "I mean what did you find out?"

"I found out that over eight other girls dissappeared in the last couple of months and within a week of their dissappearance they turned up dead."

"Is that all you found out?"

"No, they told me that all of the girls who died only had one thing in common. They had the same pimp and he hangs out at this bar over on third."

"Well let's go and kick his ass." King said as he stood to his feet.

"We should wait until tomorrow night."

"Why?" he asked confused.

"Because the sun is about to rise. Now what did you find out on your end?" she asked as she sat down and stared blankly at the computer.

"Nothing yet. I'm waiting for the preliminary forensics reports from the coroners and right now I'm running a search of the symbol on this necklace and it should be done by tomorrow."

"Good. While you do that, I'm gonna get some sleep."

The Next Day

As Faith walked out of her room, fully rested she saw King sitting at his computer asleep. Running her hand on his bald head, she suddenly looked down on the desk and saw an oversized leather bound book with the cover reading City of Boston - Department of Public Works.

Flipping through pages of blueprints, she unfolded one, a schematic grid depicting tunnels and sewer lines running underneath the streets. Seeing a part of it circled she scanned it, her fingers tracing the maze, she saw that the tunnels led her to where the bar was.

"Thank you, King." she said quietly to herself as she crossed to a corner of the room and pulled up the corner of an area rug, revealing a large hinged grating on the floor. She then reached down and pulled it up, revealing a dank tunnel, lit only by service lights mounted where it branched off near the end.

The loud grating clanged shut as she dropped down onto the damp floor. Instinctively, she glanced around before starting off toward the light, her silhouette getting smaller as she walked away. As she finally made it too the bar she saw that it was crowded, loud and smoky. In a rear corner was a small stairwell, where two signs bolted to the wall next to it read: "Private" and "Employees Only."

Sitting down at the bar, Faith leaned back on her stool and looked toward the rear of the club.

"Hey babe." a voice said behind her. Turning she saw that it was only the bartender. "What do you wanna drink?"

"Get me a shot of whiskey."

"Whatever you say sweet thing." he said as he quickly fixed her drink and slid it too her.

"Wait." she said, before he moved off. "I need to know if you've seen somebody."

"Oh, I'm looking at a nice body right now." he said, looking Faith up and down. Giving him a fake smile, she leaned up and caressed his face.

"Maybe later, but right now I'm looking for somebody by the name of Miggie."

Losing his smile he looked at her closely. "You sure you wanna get involved with that prick?"

"Yeah now spill."

"Alright, he's over there." the bartender said as he pointed to another end of the bar.

Following his gaze amongst those seated was Miggie, a latino, with alotta piercings on his ears, nose, and eyebrow. Another was Billy, a brawny, bearded, biker-pimp and standing obediently next to him was Janie, a young prostitute - dark circles under her eyes, thin and drawn, a streak of fuchsia through her black hair.

Downing her drink, wincing as the alcohol burned down her throat, she stood to her feet and walked over to him.

"I heard one of you studs goes by the name of Miggie?" Faith asked as she looked at them all in turn.

"Yeah chica, now who wants to know?" Miggie asked as he looked up at her.

"My names Faith." she said leaning down towards him. "And I need a little info from ya."

"I guess that all depends on if you're a cop or not."

"Do I look like a cop?" Faith asked as she pointed down at her leather outfit.

"Good point." he said with a shrug. And plus she was too young. "Now what did you want to know?"

"A friend of mine dissappeared a couple of days ago. I wanted to know if you've seen her?"

"What's her name?"

"Nicole. Nicole Sheridan." as she said that everyone at the table bristled.

"Sorry chica but Nicole is dead. Sad thing really, she was one of the best hoes I ever had."

"Well that's all I needed to know for right now." Faith said, with barely controlled rage. Just by looking at him, she could tell that he wasn't the master mind behind the demon prostitutes. There had to be somebody else. 'Maybe, I'll just follow this jack ass tonight.'

"Hey, Faith hold up." Miggie called after her, before she could leave. "If you're ever out of work, look me up."

"I'll do that." Faith said as she turned around and bumped into someone. It was a pretty, waifish, blonde who had just emerged from the stairwell with her john. After buttoning up his shirt, he mumbled an awkward goodbye and headed for the door.

Before she walked past her, Faith saw the same kind of necklace that Nicole was wearing sitting around the girls neck. As she bounced over to the booth, Faith watched as the girl handed some money to Miggie before walking out the front door. At that moment Faith decided that Miggie could wait, she had to find out what was about to happen with this girl.

Hanging onto every shadow that the city would allow, Faith stalked the young prostitute all day until nightfall. Standing on a high building, she watched as she went down a dark alley with yet another john. She was about to walk off, content that nothing would happen until she suddenly heard a scream.

* * *

"Come on bitch." a thug said as he took out a switchblade and pushed Chrystal up against a wall. "We're gonna have a little fun and then..." he smiled cruelly as he gave her an evil look. "I'm gonna gut you like a fish and take the money you earned tonight." 

"Is that a fact?" a voice asked behind them. Turning they saw a raven haired goddess, slowly sashaying towards them. "How much you wanna bet, that you're gonna be unconcious in the next five seconds."

"Funny." the big brute replied as he dropped his smile and ran towards her. Using her vampiric agility, Faith moved out of the way like a matador with a bull. As he turned back around, she let loose a quick series of blows that sent him too his knees.

Seeing blood coming out of his nose, sent her inner demon into a frenzy. Shifting into her game face, her blood lust taking over, she was about to bite into his neck until she heard the girl crying. Shifting back into her human face, she saw the girl laying on the ground, in a fit. Letting go of the would be rapist, who sank to the ground unconcious, Faith grabbed the girls hand and took off with her.

* * *

"Faith where the hell have you been all night?" King asked as he saw her walk into the door, carrying a girl in her arms. "Whoa what's going on?" 

"I'll explain in a little while." Faith said as she walked past him and into her bedroom, closing the door behind her. After Chrystal came fully out of her break down and out of her crying fit, she looked up to see that she was sitting on a floor and that Faith was standing over her.

"What...where the hell am I?" she asked as Faith leaned down next to her. "And who the hell are you?"

"My name is Faith and you're gonna be safe." Faith assured her. Thinking back to what happened earlier, Chrystal suddenly remembered all of what happened to her.

"Oh, God..."

"Hey, hey he ain't gonna hurt you anymore." Faith said as she looked deeply into the girls eyes and saw nothing but pain. She remembered seeing those same eyes along time ago everytime she would look into the mirror after her mother's abuse. "But what I want to know is, who's making you really cry?"

"What?" Chrystal asked, as she rubbed her nose with the back of her hand.

"I can see in your eyes that somebody hurt you a long time before that punk tried to rape you."

"So what, you a shrink or something? You gonna tell the little ho that she doesn't have to be one anymore?"

"I ain't a shrink, but I wanna be your bud." Faith said wiping a strand of hair off of the girls forehead and behind her ear. "And about you being a prostitute, you don't have to be."

"Yeah, because I'm so smart." Chrystal replied, hearing all of this before.

"Damn, you sound just like me a few years back." Faith said, with a tinge of pain in her voice. "When I was younger my ma used to be a prostitute. When she wasn't passed out or drunk she would either beat me or let her john's rape me."

"What...what made you change?" Chrystal asked, now engrossed in Faith's story. Before she could reply, King walked into the room. Seeing that the girl and Faith were deep in conversation he decided not to say anything, but stayed at the door.

"He did." Faith said as she pointed at him. "I ran away from home and he found me. He taught me that I was somebody."

"Where the hell was he when my..." she then stopped before she revealed to much.

"Your what?" Faith questioned, as she saw tears well up in the slightly younger girls eyes. "Come on Chrys, I just told you what happened to me. I think..."

"When my mom died... my dad got custody of me and he used to molest me." she finally let it out. "I finally ran away from home last year and Miggie found me on the streets and took me in. He fed and clothed me and said to pay him back all I had to do was sleep with a man for money. I thought that he really loved and cared for me so I did it. The next thing I knew he was giving me drugs and I've been having sex with men every since."

"Then stay here with us then." King said, from his spot by the door. "Me and Faith fight monsters like that and I think you're gonna be a good edition to the team."

"You heard my bro." Faith said, wiping away some of the girls tears. "He knows what he's talking about."

"I...I'll think about it."

"You know, me and you are alot alike kid." Faith said as she sat down beside her. She saw in the girl that if she herself, hadn't have had certain people in her life that she would've went down the same path." 'Cept when I die, no matter what I do they'll always be an elevator waiting to send me to hell. But it ain't gotta be like that for you. If you trust me and my bro..." she stopped to look up at King who was watching them through the open door. "We can help you. And you don't have to go out into that darkness and you don't have to go where I have too."

"I ain't a kid." Chrys said, causing Faith to smile over at her.

"Yeah, but you are a pain in my ass." she said putting an arm around the younger girls shoulder and pulling her close.

"Faith, let me talk to you for a sec." King said as he walked out of the room.

"Get some sleep." Faith said as she stood to her feet and walked out, closing the door behind herself.

"So are we taking in strays now?" King asked as he walked back over to his computer and sat down.

"I remember you doing the same thing for me a few years ago." Faith said leaning over his shoulder. "Now what's the sitch?"

"I broke into the coroners database and got the preliminary reports on that Nicole girl."

"And?"

"For some reason, she had a high level of some kind of drug in her body, that they couldn't identify." King replied as he picked up the necklace. "But I figured out what it was, because of this symbol. I think it was a proxy-inhabitor. It's a demon who can only experience sensations by possessing a host, usually through transmutory stones or crystals. It uses a special drug, that changes a person's physical state and turns them into monsters."

"T'Purok - The Corrupter." Faith said as she read an open book next to the computer. "From the Ancient Babylonian text. Lower demon who preys on the morally depraved making vessels of those who've fallen deep into the well of corruption. I'm glad I took this off of Chrys." she said as she held up the other girls necklace.

"Yeah, but how are we gonna find the demon?" King asked.

"I think I already know where it is." Faith said as she crushed the stone to dust with her bare hand. "But first I wanna go down to a furniture shop and get something."

At his look, Faith quickly checked on Chrys and upon seeing her asleep in her bed, took King by the hand and walked out of the front door. After thirty minutes the two came back into the apartment with a bed, which they carried between them.

"Hey Chrys come here!" Faith yelled out, happily. Her new friend was really going to enjoy getting her own room. Not getting an answer she walked into her room and saw that she was gone.

"Maybe...maybe she went back to Miggie." King suggested as they sat the small bed down.

'And I thought she wanted to be one of us.' Faith thought to herself, as King looked over and saw that the bathroom door was slightly ajar.

"There you are." he said, as he saw Chrys sitting on the floor. When there was no answer he pushed open the door to the bathroom, revealing Chrystal slumped against the side of the bathtub. There was a tourniquet around her upper arm and a syringe still sticking out of her forearm.

King crouched down beside her, briefly touching her shoulder.

"Damn?" he said quietly as he reached down and picked up a packet of heroine, before standing up. As he turned around he found Faith standing in the doorway behind him. "Faith, I'm..."

"Bury her someplace nice." Faith said, not meeting his gaze, but staring at the girl. She had so much potential. "I'll be right back."

"Faith! Faith!" he yelled out to her as she walked out of the room. "Damnit."

Going into their weapons cabinet, Faith looked over a wide variety of weapons before finally settling on one. Putting it under her duster she sprinted -- full out -- dodging traffic, people, leaping over parked cars, before finally making it to her motorcycle.

The Bottom Bar

Later That Night

The biker pimp Billy placed a ceremonial shroud, a cloth with numerous markings and symbols, on his head, virtually obscuring his face. As he turned around he looked at a dozen others, also enshrouded -- the source of the ever-present droning. As he walked among them, he made sure all of them were kneeling before an elaborate shrine, constructed atop a riser.

Looking over it he saw animal bones, talismans, small effigies, along with empty pint bottles, crack vials, porn mags, etc. There was also so much dust on the wall that it could barely be noticed that the wall behind the shrine bared a symbol: a circle within an oval and what looked like a lightenning bolt bisecting the circle.

A figure, also enshrouded in a slightly more grand ceremonial cloth, stood on the riser, facing the others, his head bowed. Walking down through the midst of them he administered a kind of unholy communion -- instead of a wafer and a sip of wine, he offered a pill and a swig from a bottle of bourbon.

As one of the faithful accepted the pill on his tongue and washed it down, the figure lifted his chin and as the light hit his face it could be seen that it was Miggie. After making sure everyone took the communion, he raised his hands holding up a necklace.

"T'Purok -- Pervade, imbue, possess!" as Miggie said that the jewel on the necklace began to burn brightly.

"T'Purok -- T'Purok -- T'Purok..." as the others droned on, the double doors in the front of the bar suddenly, exploded sending in a shower of glass. As they looked up, they saw Faith stroll in mad as hell.

"I told you I would be back." Faith said as six pimps, surrounded her, wielding baseball bats.

"So you are and you were stupid enough to come alone." Miggie said shaking his head. 'Dumb bitch.'

Faith just looked around at her opposition, taking stock of her situation, while considering her reply, before turning back to him.

"This all you got?" Faith asked. "I would've thought you'd have more guys for me to pound on."

The bat-wielding pimps just looked blankly at her, then at each other, not really sure how to respond.

Not waiting for a reply anyway, POW! Faith elbowed one of the pimps behind her, in the face as another swung his bat at her. Faith ducked, and the bat took out the already elbowed pimp.

Before she could fend it off, another pimp slammed her in the gut making her double over. Hitting her in the back, Faith hit the floor as the others rained blows down upon her. As Billy brought down his bat, Faith's hand shot out and grabbed it. Billy tried and failed to pull it out of her grip, just as she lifted her bruised, bloodied, and in full vamp face.

The pimps then stared at each other, dumbfounded for a beat, before shrugging off the shock and charging her, big mistake.

Faith then proceded to kick serious ass with some impressive almost batman like action. Much carnage was delivered to the bad guys. While dispatching a couple of them, Miggie came up behind her, wielding an ax. He raised it to strike, when suddenly Faith turned and grabbed him by the throat.

"That crap you gave Chrystal killed her." Faith said as she squeezed until Miggie dropped the ax. "You happy now?"

"She was to good of a ho for me to be happy." with a growl, at his comment. she threw him through a pair of closed double doors into an inner room.

She stopped when she suddenly noticed the shrine before her. Scanning the paraphernalia for a moment, she went wide-eyed with recognition when she noticed the symbol on the wall above the shrine -- the cracked circle within the oval.

Making sure everyone was unconcious, she went back out to her motorcycle. As she reentered the bar, she seemed to be carrying something under her coat, before purposefully crossing to the shrine. She looked at it for a moment then, with a sweep of her arm, tossed it aside, sending the various paraphernalia flying.

Below the icon layed an old wooded door, termite-ridden and boarded up. Letting out another growl Faith raised her foot and kicked it in to reveal a small storage room. As the door virtually disintegrated and the rotted wood hit the filthy, musty floor, light from the outside spilled in.

As Faith stepped inside, and looked around, all she saw were empty crates, old dusty bottles, etc. Then out of nowhere she heard a sniveling, wheezy, laugh coming from above. Looking up above and before her was a large, misshapen demon, with a face and stubby claws growing out of the corner of the ceiling, like a mold. It was T'PUROK.

"That's me all over." it said amused. "First to arrive and last to leave the party. Oh, and what a delicious one this was. Mmmm. Nothing sweeter than corruption of the flesh, don't you agree, vampire?" it asked only for Faith to glare at him and reach into her coat.

"Ah, well... All good things must come to an end."

"Bad things, too." Faith replied as she produced a small medieval battle ax.

"You think you can make a difference? As long as there are souls -- weak, wounded, begging to be perverted - I'm everywhere and eternal. I'll be around when the last of humanity eats itself alive -- Oh, it's going to be beautiful!"

As he raved Faith just raised the ax over her head.

"Kill me! Kill a hundred of me!" T'PUROK yelled, his voice rising into a pitch. "You are one, where I am a THOUSAND!"

Having heard that Faith jumped slightly up swinging the ax. It landed with the appetizing chunk sound of the demons head being cleaved in two.

"Nine hundred and ninety-nine to go." Faith said as she eyed the demon's corpse for a moment before walking out.

A/N I hope you guys liked this chapter. It was fun to write. So review please... my muse needs it.


	5. Chapter 4 Normal Again

A/N Part of the beginning of this chapter is from Seraphim2db's fic. Don't worry, I got permission from him to use it, so there won't be any problems. It's a flashback anyway, so I had to use it for the purpose of this story.

Also this chapter takes place a week after chapter 3. I wanted to show in this chapter what Faith's emotions could be. Not just the crap we were handed on TV.

Also thanks Faith-rulz. At least I know there's one person still reading my story. For that loyalty you've shown me, I'm gonna upload two chapters at once.

Chapter 4

Normal Again

Jumping from rooftop to rooftop in the downtown warehouse district, Faith suddenly stopped at the edge of a building and looked out into the night. Picking up snippets of voices, she concentrated and heard a child's scared whispers coming from a nearby warehouse.

Taking a few steps back, she chanced a jump and went over the thirty foot gap towards the next building. Landing with a cat like grace on the rooftop of the next building, she saw a vampire watching over a skylight with it's back turned to her. Taking a stake out of her belt holster, she stealthly walked up behind him and staked him.

Looking down through the skylight, she saw a little blonde haired girl huddled together with her mother, with a black vampire in a business suit standing over them talking. Not liking what he was saying, she jumped through the skylight, sending a shower of glass to the floor and landed in a crouch to comfront him.

"How much you want to bet that you want hurt them?" Faith asked as she looked up at him.

"You." Trick growled as he slipped into his vampiric visage, just as two vampires appeared behind him.

"Finally, some four way action." Faith said as she stood up as the vampires surrounded her.

"So you're the elusive Faith?" Mr. Trick asked as he circled her and checked out her body. "Mmmm...very nice."

"I'm glad you like what you see." Faith said as she got in a defensive pose. "Your boss said the same thing before I offed him."

"You lie." one of the vamps said from behind her. "The great Kakistos, couldn't fall at the hands of someone like you."

"Sorry, but your boyfriend is dead." Faith said immediately angering the vamp. As he threw out a sidekick, she caught his foot, opened palmed striked him in the kneecap shattering his leg. Pushing him to the side she turned and caught another vamp by the fist as he tried to punch her, before breaking his arm at the elbow.

As the demon howled in pain, she took a stake out of her duster and stabbed him in his unprotected heart. Walking through it's ashes as it blew in the wind, she turned and threw her stake with deadly accuracy at the vampire that was withering on the floor with it's broken leg. As it looked up at her in shock, it burst into ashes. Looking around herself, she saw that Mr. Trick was long gone.

"You...you saved us." the little girl said as she ran up to Faith and threw herself into her arms, in a hug.

"Thank you." the girls mother said as she walked up to them.

"No prob." Faith said as she held the little girls hand.

"You're cold." the girl said as she looked up at Faith. Usually when she held her mothers hand, she would feel some kind of warmth, but with her new friend she didn't.

"What were those things?" the woman asked, ignoring her daughters comment.

"The same thing I am." Faith said as her face changed into that of a vampires. Tossing the little girl away from her like a rag doll, Faith lunged at the mother and sank her fangs deep into her neck. Leaving her to scream off into the night.

Waking up in a cold sweat, a scream still ringing in her ears, Faith looked around her dark room and saw that she was alone. Calming down she realized it was only a...no it wasn't a dream but rather something she had done month's ago when she was soulless.

"Faith are you alright?" King asked as he burst into her room and walked over to her. "I heard you screaming."

"I'm fine." Faith said as she stood out of bed making King's eyes buck wide open. He had forgotten that Faith liked to sleep in the nude.

'Damn right you are.' King thought to himself as he stared at her body. Shaking those nasty thoughts out of his head, he looked up at her face. "Since you're up I thought you'd want to go on a little field trip with me?"

"Where we going?"

"To that abandoned amusement park downtown." he said handing her a police file and coroners report. "Third victim in about a week. I got a friend at the coroner's that said the teeth marks strongly indicate a Boretz demon. This last victim was a teenage girl. A runaway. She was ripped apart."

"I see." Faith said with a shrug as she closed the file and the pictures. "Well, there's not much we can do about it now, huh?" she asked as she turned back toward her bed.

With a concerned look and an urgent tone in his voice King stepped closer to her. "Faith, we need to find this demon and destroy it before..."

"Somebody else dies?" she finished for him. "Yeah. I know, bro. People are dying every day all over. This girl is just one more statistic.

"Samantha." King replied as he looked down. "The statistic's name was SamanthaWest."

"Well, you know, we can't save everybody, and we can't sweat the small stuff." Faith shot back in an even tone as she took the printout and perused it.

"The small stuff? Faith what's the matter with you? You haven't been the same since..."

"Fine if you want some help, I'll give it to you." Faith said as she pushed him out of her door. "I'll be out in a sec."

Putting his head down, King shook his head at Faith's antics. Shaking off the bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, he walked towards the weapons room to get ready.

Funville Amusement Park

Night

Faith and King walked through the dark amusement park, side by side, with King twirling his father's axe in one hand and Faith dragging a long sword at her side. Two times that night King wanted to talk to Faith about her problem, but for the first time in his life the words wouldn't come to him.

She had taken that girl, Chrystal's, death hard, he knew but at first he couldn't figure out why. That was until he thought about Faith's situation and her seeking redemption. She was trying to make sure that Chrystal had a better life then she had.

"King." Faith said as she suddenly stopped by a roller coaster.

"Yeah?" he asked as he turned back and looked at her.

"When you first saw me... you know for the first time, what was it about me that told you that I was special and ready to change?"

'Finally she's opening up to me.' King thought to himself, before replying. "It was your eyes. I could tell just by looking at you that you were hurting and that you needed my help."

"But how did you know I wouldn't run away or..."

"I didn't. Truth be told I was scared that you would run away and get yourself hurt. That's why I stayed so close to you." he said as he softly touched her face. His little sister would've been the same age as her, had she'd of lived. "This is all about Chrystal isn't it?"

"I don't wanna talk about this."

"Faith you have to." King replied as he grabbed her hand so, she wouldn't walk off. "Faith what we have goes far beyond regular friendship. You're like a little sister to me and I know you feel like I'm your brother. Well Faith I see you're hurting and you were right that we can't save everybody. But what about the one's that we can help?"

Before she could answer, she suddenly picked up the stench of flesh. Before she could look up the Boretz demon, an all dark green slimy beast jumped down on them, engaging King in a powerful fistfight, ending when the Boretz flung King into the power junction box. Vamping out Faith stepped up and engaged the Boretz as King got to his feet.

"Stay away from its mouth! It's bite's poisonous." King said as he picked up his battle axe. "Go for its knees. I think there's a weak spot..." before he could finish his sentence he saw that Faith had grabbed the demon by the neck and kicked it forcefully through the large wooden supports for a roller-coaster, instantly killing it. "Okay. Yeah! That might do it." he said impressed.

"Yeah, glad you liked it." Faith said getting back into her funk. "Now let's go the sun'll be up in a few hours and I wanna get some sleep."

"But Faith we still need to talk about..." at her glare he stopped talking. Hopefully he would get a second chance to talk to her about it.

As they finally made it home, Faith went into her room, took off her clothes, but instead of going to bed, she opened the blinds to the small window that was in her room and looked out into the night. Whistler really, wasn't kidding when he had told her the windows wouldn't get that much sunlight. Even though it was still night, she couldn't imagine that much light coming in through such a tiny space.

Looking up at the moon, or rather what little she could see of it, a sudden pain struck hard through her body. As she turned around to head towards her bed, her eyesight started to go in and out, just as another volley of pain hit her. Shrinking down to her knees, not being able to take the pain anymore, she tried to scream only for a small gurgle of blood to come out of her mouth. Eyes rolling to the back of her head, she keeled over and fell unconcious on the floor.

Early Morning

"Hey, Faith I'm going out for a few." King said, on the other side of her door as he gently tapped on it. 'Hmmm, she's usually up by now.' he thought to himself after not getting an answer. Slowing opening up her door, he peeked inside and saw her lying on the floor naked, with a trickle of blood coming out of the corner of her mouth and a small stream of sunlight hitting her face. "Faith!" he shouted as he rushed into the room and sat her up.

As he got her up off of the floor and put her into her bed he noticed a few things. One when he touched her body it was warm and not cold like that of a dead persons. Two she was breathing and finally three she was lying in direct sunlight and didn't burst into flames.

Stroking a strand of her dark hair out of her face, he was about to run out of the room and get a bowl of cold water and a rag, until he heard Faith coughing. Looking back he saw that she opened up her eyes and had sat up out of bed.

"Faith. Faith are you okay?" he asked as he ran to her side.

"I...I... feel..."

"Hurt?"

"No." she said as she looked up at him. "I feel alive."

* * *

"To be honest with you kid, I don't know how this happened." Whistler said as he sat down next to Faith on her couch. As soon as Faith discovered that she was now alive, she had contacted him on her cellphone and told him to come over. "You didn't bump up against any Mohra demons did you?"

"No..." Faith replied with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"

"No reason." Whistler said standing to his feet. "I'm gonna head out and see if I can talk to the oracles about what happened to you. Maybe they know something. In the mean time you're alive kid. Enjoy it."

"Yeah, like I enjoyed it the first time around." she muttered to herself as he walked out of the door. Feeling a pair of eyes on her, she looked up to see King staring at her. "What?"

"Come on Pinocchio." he replied as he held his hand out for her to take. "Since you're a real girl now let's go out and have a little fun."

Hidden Chamber

"'The Gateway for Lost Souls' " Whistler said to himself as he looked around the dusty old cavern. Looking at a white stone arc in the wall, he looked down at an urn and walked over to it. "Here goes nothing."

" 'I beseech access to the knowing ones..' " he said aloud as he put some herbs in the urn. Pulling out his lighter he burnt the herbs and a high flame jumped out of it. After a few seconds

the arc glowed and filled with light.

Rubbing his hands together in anticipation he stepped through the light into a white marble chamber, just as two glittery figures came out of the shadows to confront him.

"Come before us, messenger." the male said as he looked over at the tacky dressed half demon.

"What have you brought us?" the woman asked.

"I'm a messenger and I'm still supposed to.."

"You call us forth and bring us no offering?"

'Damn and I loved this watch.' Whistler thought to himself as he took off his gold watch. 'You so owe me kid.' "I brought you this."

The woman then held out her hand and the watch flew to her. "I like time. There is so little and so much of it."

"Well?" the man asked getting to the point.

"This is about Faith...the Ascended Slayer. Somehow she's lost her powers and abilities."

"It's true then, brother." the woman said as she stepped over on the other side of Whistler. Just as the man did the same on his other side before speaking.

"She is no longer a warrior."

"Yeah, but what can we do about it. Order has to be restored and without her..."

"Mankind will be destroyed." the man finished.

"Yeah, now can we help her?"

The woman looked up after a beat as if she were listening to some unknown voice in her head.

"The Auguries say no. If it has happened it was meant to be."

"That which we serve is no longer that which she serves. Tell her that she is released from her fealty." the man stated firmly as they walked away from him.

"That's it? So mankind is gonna be doomed?"

"Mankind was meant to be doomed from the beginning. Champions merely hold back the tide." the woman started. "If the Ascended one doesn't figure out that she's needed then she won't be."

With that said the male oracle held up his hand and Whistler went flying backwards out of the arc to land on the dirty ground.

"Well that went well." Whistler said to himself as he stood up and dusted himself off. He had to do something to make Faith believe in herself again.

* * *

"Mmmm...damn I only got turned a couple of months ago, but I still almost forgot how real food tasted." Faith said as she bit down on her cotton candy and walked out of the Funville amusement park.

After staying there almost all day, trying to re-live a part of her childhood long forgotton, they rode all the rides all except the roller coaster which was shut down for repairs. Finishing off the last of her candy and feeling the last rays of the sun touching her flesh, as it went down, Faith looked over at King and sighed.

"So what do you wanna do next, bro? Go to a club?"

"No." King said as he went into his jacket and pulled out a stake. "We need to handle a little business first."

Looking past him, Faith saw three vampires pushing two girls down a darkened alley.

"So much for me just reliving my childhood today." Faith said bitterly.

"We'll worry about that later. Now let's go."

As they ran down the alley, a vampire stepped out in front of them. Then two more stepped up behind them, growling. At that moment they knew that they've been set up.

"So you're the Slayer every demon in town is afraid of?" a vampire with spiky black hair asked, as he looked at her up and down. "You don't look so tough."

"Just try me."

"Gladly." he said with another growl as Faith started fighting them off immediately. There was a horde of them now, and half went towards her and the other towards King.

Faith managed to punch one and kick another away from her, but she noticed that her punches were having little effect. Ducking under a roundhouse, she used that as her opportunity to get a stake out of her jacket. Just as she did a vamp kicked her in the chest, knocking the wind out of her. Trying to retaliate, she tried to stake him, only to have her weapon slapped out of her hand and for her to be jacked up off of her feet, by a vice like grip from the lead vampire.

"You're the one everybodies afraid of?" he asked, with a shake of his head. "What a joke." he said as he leaned in to bite her on the neck. Mid-way through he had a thought. "But before I kill you, I want you to watch as my boys kill the girls you came to save."

Turning her head forcefully, so she could see, Faith had to watch as one of his childes bent down and bit deeply into one of the girls neck.

* * *

King overpowered one of the vampires and quickly staked him. Blocking a kick on his forearm he then knocked the last one to the ground, staking him too. Flipping the stake in his hand, he then returned it to his belt holster as he looked up to see how Faith was faring.

Seeing that she was in trouble, he ran over and quickly staked the lead vampire in the back. As he crumbled to dust, Faith fell to her knee's violently gasping for air. Struggling to see, she looked up and saw King duck under a rainbow kick, deliver one of his own, and then stake the vampire he was fighting.

"It's going to be okay." he said to the girls as he helped the one that hadn't been bitten, to her feet. Looking down he saw that the other teen girl was still alive and was sitting up, holding onto her neck. "Get your friend here to the hospital." he said as he tore off a piece of his shirt and gave it to her to stop the bleeding.

"O..okay." the dark haired girl said as she helped her friend to her feet and clutched at the wound with the piece of shirt. As they took off down the alley, King called after them.

"And stay out of dark alleys."

"That's some good advice." Faith said as she stood to her feet and walked over to him.

"Are you alright?" King asked as he held his shoulder. He had hurt it when he had rolled on the ground.

"No." Faith replied as she put her stake back in her jacket pocket and looked down at the dust under her foot. "Let's just go home."

Faith's Apartment

Thirty Minutes Later

"I'm beat, I'm heading for bed." Faith said as she took off her jacket and headed for her room.

"The hell you are!" King growled as he grabbed her by the arm and quickly spun her around.

"What's your problem?"

"You are Faith." he replied as he looked deeply into her eyes. "You don't want to talk about your problem, fine. I'll just do all the talking. Faith I know how you feel about Chrystal's death and it wasn't your fault."

"Then who's was it?"

"It was her's. Ya might not want to hear this Faith but Chrystal was weak and that's why she killed herself."

"You're out of line."

"Am I ?" King asked, his blood boiling. "You feel guilty that she's dead I get that, but what about the people that are still alive? I love you Faith and I'm not gonna sit here and watch you go down that dark road."

"Then get the hell out, King!" Faith shouted as she turned her back to him and walked towards her bed room door.

"Damnit Dana!" King shouted back as his body trembled with anger. Faith turned back around and looked at him for a second.

'Did he just call me, Dana?' she asked herself. 'But that's his dead sis's name.' Giving him another look, she finally saw that King was still dealing with his own demons. Intent on maybe talking with him about it later, she turned back around and headed for her room.

"You know, I finally figured out why you lost your powers Faith. It's because you're weak. That Slayer side of you and the demon must've got tired of fighting each other because their host is so damn annoying and weak. You're nothing like that strong girl I met years ago."

"King." Faith started as she turned around, her face twisted in horror. "You smell smoke."

Sniffing the air and indeed smelling smoke, King and Faith ran for the door. Going up the first flight of stairs, they were about to walk out of the exit until they saw smoke coming from under a door further down the hall.

"Help me...somebody help!" they heard a little boy's voice shout out. Running towards the door, King touched it and felt that it was hot. Rearing back, King slammed up against the door that didn't give, recoiling back and holding his shoulder as he did so.

"Damn, I...I can't bust it down." he said with another wince. "I'm gonna go back to our spot and get an ax." he said running off.

"Hey kid can you here me?" Faith asked as she slowly tapped on the door.

"Yeah..." the little voice said after a few seconds.

"Good, now can you open the door to get out?"

"No, the fire spread to the door and...and it's so hot... Ahhhhh!"

"Kid! Kid!" Faith yelled as she tried to knock the door down to know avail. 'Damnit! Not again I can't fail this again. Not like I did...'

"No!" Faith yelled in a animalistic growl as her face shifted into her vampiric visage. Lifting up her foot she kicked in the door splintering wood and nearly knocking the door off of it's frame.

Thinking that there was going to be a barrier to keep her out, she was surprised that she was able to stick her arm through the door. 'But that would mean that the kid is...'

Not completing that thought, she ducked under a falling piece of fiery debris and ran into the kitchen area, where the smoke was originating from. Someone must have been cooking food in the stove and had forgotton about it, because large pumes of smoke and fire were radiating from it. Seeing a tall dark haired woman on the floor, she scooped her up and quickly looked around for the boy. Taking the woman out into the hall and sitting her down, she ran back in to try to find him.

"Kid! Kid!" she yelled out as she ran in every room she could get into. Not being able to bare the pain of the heat any longer, she ran back out into the hall and saw King administering CPR on their neighbor.

After a second of Faith's arrival, the woman sputtered and coughed. As she sat up, holding her head she looked around first at King and then at Faith and screamed. Remembering she was still in her vampiric face, Faith shook her head and dropped out of it, before talking.

"What room is your son in, I couldn't find him?"

"My...my son?" the woman asked, going into another coughing fit.

"Yeah, now where the hell is he?" if she hurried, maybe she could still save his life.

"Miss, my son died a year ago today." the woman said as she opened a locket and showed them a tiny picture of her and a little boy hugging.

"But..."

"Faith." King cut her off. Glancing over at him, Faith saw that he was giving her a look that said, leave it alone.

Ignoring him, because she knew what she heard, she was about to run back into the apartment until she saw two ghostly images. One was of a little boy and the other one was of her dead Watcher standing at the doorway. As the fire crackled behind them, her Watcher gave Faith a friendly wave before fading off into nothingness.

* * *

"You two kids have fun?" Whistler asked as Faith and King walked back into their apartment.

"What the hell are you doing back here?" King asked, as he took a beer can out of the half demon's hands. There was just something about the guy that unnerved him.

"Hey, is that any way to treat the guy that got the answer to Faith's problem?" Whistler asked.

"The problem's solved Whis." Faith said as she opened her arms up wide. "I'm back."

"Good." the short messenger said as he stood to his feet and walked towards the door. "Then I guess my work here is done."

"Wait." Faith called out as Whistler touched the door knob.

"Yeah?"

"Take me to go and see her."

"That's not part of the rules kid and you know it." Whistler said as King looked at the two back and forth, in confusion. "You've already interfered in that girls life enough."

"I want to see her." Faith said again, more determined.

Letting out a sigh, Whistler rolled his eyes at her before nodding his head.

"Alright, alright, alright already. Let's go." he said as he opened the door and walked out.

"Faith where are you..."

"It's alright, bro." Faith said putting a hand on King's chest. "I'll be back in a few."

Somewhere Across Town

Surburban Area

Faith's motorcycle creeped under low-hanging trees and stopped a discrete distance from a cozy little two story home nestled in between a group of larger houses. Letting go of Faith's waist, Whistler watched as she walked toward the house and peered in a large picture window that glowed with the light from a television.

She stood beyond the light it casted outside, careful to stay out of sight. Not even having to use her vampiric hearing, she heard the sound of crying drifting out from within. Looking inside, she saw a little girl sitting in her bed, wearing Winnie the Pooh pajamas crying her little eyes out.

She didn't have to be a psychic to know what she was crying about. After what she had did to the little girl's mother, she was surprised she didn't die of fright. At that moment Faith swore that she would try to make this world a better place for her to live in, or she was gonna die trying.

"Anne, lights out sweetheart." Faith heard the girls foster mother call out. Wiping that tear that fell from her eye, from the horrible memories she was having, Faith quickly turned around, got on her bike and drove off into the night.

Upon hearing a powerful engine, Anne wiped her eyes and looked out of the window. Wiping her eyes again she had to do a double take as she saw a hint of someone with long raven hair driving away from her house.

'It couldn't be her. Could it?' she thought to herself. Not wanting to think about her pain anymore she layed back into bed and got ready for another dreamless night.


	6. Chapter 5 Witchy Girl

Chapter 5

Witchy Girl

A figure wearing a brown hooded robe, stood in the darkness of a cave, slowly stirring the contents of a bubbling cauldron. After a few seconds it tossed in a clove of herbs and watched as a spark of magic shot out of the foul smelling liquid.

"Many years ago in Salem Massachusetts, I was a powerful witch." the woman said in a dark raspy voice. "The villagers of that accursed town found out what I was, but I fixed that. I did a spell that would make them all forget the evil I had done, but a young witch, sensing what I had done, destroyed my spell. I escaped to Boston, but they took me and tried to burn me at the stake, but I used the last of my power to send me to this DAMNABLE PLACE!" she screamed outloud as the wails of the demons of the underworld filled the cavern.

"I am trapped here, but this is now the time of my escape." she said after a moment of composing herself. "The balance of good and evil is distorted and darkness is escaping. And in that darkness I will arise again on earth. But there's only one thing I need. A witch...but not just anyone, I need the descendant of the witch that did this to me. I must have her power. Go now and bring her to me."

As she said that ten monks, all in brown ceremonial hooded robes, turned their back to her and started to walk out of the caves.

"I'll see you soon, little girl." the figure said taking off her hood, revealing a hideously charred face and white long, but patchy hair.

A Boston Bus Station

Night

Just now pulling up at the stroke of mid-night, a charter bus opened its doors, and a couple of people walked down the steps of it to exit the vehicle.

"Boston." the bus driver said to the people. just standing to their feet as they to got off. "Watch your step. Next stop..."

As he said that the last person to exit was a pretty honey blonde teen, wearing a new age outfit and carrying a backpack and another bag. As she looked around, she walked forward between some parked buses to the bus terminal building. The sign overhead read "OVERLAND CHARTERS". With a confused look the girl looked at the building, but saw that the doors were closed and no lights were on.

Which was strange because the school had said that they were going to have a cab waiting for her. She had been accepted at Boston University, which was also strange because she didn't remember applying for it. She had originally picked out a school to go to, which was in Sunnydale California, but since Boston offered a full scholarship she had decided to come here.

The only catch to her getting the full scholarship however was for her to come up to Boston in the middle of summer and talk to the head mistress of the school, so she could get her information together. The woman had a wierd name though. A name that sounded slightly familiar but foreign to her at the same time. Her name was Bodecia.

After hearing a noise in the distance, she looked around anxiously, and went to a nearby pay phone, grabbed the phone book, and started to flip through it. As the girl ran her finger down through the company names for cabs, she suddenly heard the noise again. Only this time it was closer.

Feeling someone's presence she looked up from the book, and saw a black-robed, hooded, eyeless man approaching her. Letting out a gulp she dropped the phone book and turned to run, but saw two more of those men, the Bringers, coming toward her with knives in their hands. Not knowing what else to do, she backed up against the wall, panicked, breathing heavily, and sank down to the ground.

* * *

Letting out a huge outtake of air, Faith sat up off of her couch and quickly took a look around. King was sitting right next to her, still asleep, and she finally remembered what they had been doing. They were watching an all night horror movie marathon and they must've fallen asleep.

'But what the hell was up with that dream?' she thought to herself. Everything seemed so real. That girl...

Picking up the remote control, after hearing the static of the television, she shut it off.

"Wha..." King said as he instantly opened his eyes and started to rub them. "Is it...is it over?"

"Yeah, now grab your shoes and your jacket." Faith said as she stood to her feet. She had to know if what she had seen was real.

Boston Bus Station

Fourty Five Minutes Later

"So you wanted to check this place out, because you had a dream?" King asked as he dismounted Faith's motorcycle. "Was it one of those Slayer dreams you were telling me about?"

"No." she replied as she started to look around the buses for a clue. Anything. "I've never felt anything like this before."

"So what are we supposed to be looking fo..." before he could finish his sentence, he lost his footing and tripped over something. Looking down Faith was just able to see him fall flat on his ass.

"You five by five?" she asked as she helped him to his feet.

"Yeah, good for me I only hurt my pride." he replied as he saw what he fell over. It was a worn brown backpack and a black duffle.

Reaching past him, Faith searched through the backpack and started to pull out a few non personal items, before finally hitting pay dirt and finding a bill fold. Opening it her eyes widened when she saw the blonde from her dream on the Id card.

"Tara Maclay." King said taking the card out of her hand. "Hmmm, she's a looker. And she's from New Mexico. You think she's a runaway?"

"No." Faith said as she held up the crumbled acceptance letter out of the backpack. "She's supposed to be here. The sun is gonna be out soon, so let's go back home and figure out what our next move is gonna be." as they were about to walk off, Faith's foot hit something. Bending down she picked it up and quickly dropped it back down to the ground.

"What is it?" King asked as he picked up the object. It was a ceremonial curved blade, with jewels on the hilt of it.

"The Bringers." she said aloud, even as she thought back to her time in Sunnydale and the First evil.

* * *

Finally coming back into the realm of conciousness, Tara found herself chained to a wooden support beam. As the haze finally cleared from her mind and the cloudiness went away out of her eyes she saw that she was in some kind of a cave. A noisey cave at that, as she heard someone hammering on something in the distance.

As her senses fully came back to her, she smelled a musty odor, that wafted into the air, along with a pang of pain on her skull. Even though she couldn't touch or see her forehead, she knew that she had a small gash on it and that it was bleeding. After a moment she remembered what had happened to her. The memory itself sending a cold shiver down her spine. She was at the bus station, about to call a cab when a group of eyeless monks came out of the shadows and had attacked her. She was too frightened to scream.

Her pa was right after all. If she had ever left home she would only run into trouble. Trouble no one would be able to get her out of. Closing her eyes, she could feel as a shadow walked across her eyelids. Even though her eyes weren't open, she could still feel that whomever was in front of her, had a pitch black aura.

"It's about time you've awakened." a voice finally spoke to her. To her surprise her voice wasn't filled with hate nor malice. But why was she here, chained and...

"I know you're wondering why you're here." the voice spoke again. "Well let's just say that someone in your family caused me alot of misery. And as you know misery loves company."

"W..why are yo...you doing this?" Tara managed to stutter out.

"Because I want to be above ground little one." the woman wheezed out lowly as she pointed above herself. "All I have to do is drain you of your lifes energy and I get your beauty as well as your power."

Summoning up a small amount of courage, Tara opened her eyes only to scream, as she saw the woman before her. Instead of seeing just an ugly woman, she saw a rotting corpse crawling with maggots. Recoiling back in her chains in horror, she closed her eyes back, terrified.

If she had've kept her eyes open, she would've seen the Bringers building a wooden wheel, along with an unholy altar. In just a matter of hours, Tara Maclay would be no more.

Later That Day

"So you're saying that these Bringer guys worked for the First Evil?" King asked at the end of Faith's story. 'God she's lived an even worse life without me around.'

"Yeah."

"You don't think it's back do you?" he asked a bit concerned. Because if it were half as bad as it was in Sunny D, then they were gonna be in some serious trouble.

"No..it has to be somebody else controlling them."

"Well beside's that I called the University of Boston and they said they never heard of a Tara Maclay or a Head Mistress Bodecia."

"So the acceptance letter was a fake."

"Exactly. But I got to thinking about that name Bodecia." he said as he walked over to his computer. "So I did a search on the name and came up with two matches. One was a character in a book and the other was a witch from Salem that was killed in 1690. Because they found out about witches through her, they started the Salem witch trials two years later."

"So how is that gonna help us?" Faith asked. "Ones a character and the other ones dead."

"She's not neccessarily dead." King said as he hit the back button on his computer. "According to an eyewitness of that time, before the flames could fully consume her a portal opened behind her and she fell through. The other villagers just played it off as if it never happened."

"So what does this have to do with our girl?"

"Two things." King said holding up a necklace. "I went through her stuff and found this. It's a wiccan symbol, so I'm guessing she's a witch."

"And what's the second thing?" she asked as she took the necklace and looked down at it.

"This." he said looking at the monitor screen. As Faith looked over his shoulder, she saw a portrait of the villagers standing around a woman burning at the stake. Not seeing what he saw at first, she concentrated on the faces of the people and saw a woman standing slightly away from the mob. The young woman looked to be the spitting image of Tara.

"Alright, the sun's down." Faith said as she looked out of the window and pocketed Tara's necklace. "I felt a wierd energy at the bus station, so let's go back and see if we can find something."

"But we don't even have a plan." King said, even as he gathered his jacket and his battle axe.

"Here's the plan." Faith said throwing on her duster and heading towards the door. "We rush in, I start hitting people in the face and we'll see what happens from there."

As they finally made it back to the bus station and walked towards the gate, they saw over ten Bringers guarding a small area. After reaching out with her senses, Faith could see an after glow of a portal between a building.

"So what do you wanna do?" King whispered from their position, behind a booth. Not getting an answer, he turned his head only to find Faith already gone. "Faith?"

Just then, the pair of Bringers that stood between the buses were lifted off the ground and went flying apart, revealing Faith, who had thrown them over twenty feet in either direction. Upon sensing her, the third Bringer ran to warn the others while the two Faith attacked came back for more. One lunged at her with his knife, but she grabbed his hand and stabbed the other Bringer with the knife he's holding. The stabbed Bringer doubled over in pain, and Faith kicked him to the ground. As she continued to wrestle with the other Bringer, she had enough and ultimately broke his neck. Seeing the other one run away, she yelled out to him.

"Hey!" she yelled as she bent down to pick up a Bringer's knife at her feet. "You forgot this!"

With that she hurled the knife at the fleeing Bringer, landing it in his back, stabbing him through the heart.

"Way to be stealthy Faith." King said as he ran over to her, even as he saw some more Bringers running towards them.

"Don't be such a cry baby." Faith said going back to back with him. "Let's do this."

* * *

Taking Tara's chains off of the wooden beam on the floor, the bringer took her and restrapped her to a circular construct made of wood. Bodecia started to talk to her while, a former priest of the First, also known as a Harbinger, strapped Tara to the construct and ripped off her shirt.

"You'll have to excuse the spectacle, but I've always been a bit of a sucker for the old classics." Bodecia said as she grinned wickedly, fondly eyeing Tara's predicament.

As she said that Tara had then been tied to the wheel-like construct with all four corners of her body pulled in opposite directions. Reaching down in his sheath, a Harbinger took out a knife and gave her shallow cuts on the arm with it, making her cry out in excruciating pain.

"Oh, don't cry little one." Bodecia said, as she reached out with a rotted hand and wiped away a tear. "Your pain will only be momentarily." she said as the Bringer shallowly cut her on the stomach.

"To be honest with you, I wish I didn't have to hurt you. I wanted that damn ancestor of yours, but she's gone. She's the one that made me be trapped down here, but now, fittingly, you're the one who gets to do the honors." she said as she crossed her arms. "I have to admit however that, I'm a little glad it worked out this way. I was going to bleed out your mother, but... what you didn't think I knew about your mother's death?" she asked, after getting a teared glare from Tara.

"Oh child, I know lot's of things." Bodecia said, smiling under her hood. "Now hoist her up!"

Taking that command a Harbinger cranked a wheel attached to a mechanism that hoisted the wheel Tara's tied to into the air. After a few seconds she was hanging from the wheel about ten feet from the ground, bleeding steadily from her ritualized symbol-shaped cuts.

"In just a few moments my dear, I will be set free." Bodecia said happily as Tara's blood dripped on the unholy altar, underneath her. 'A new century... a new world...'

"I don't think so!" they heard a voice yell out. As Tara looked up, she saw a raven haired goddess, stroll into the cavern with a cocksure smile on her face. Shaking out the tears in her eyes, she glanced over the mystery girls beautiful, fit, body before passing out.

"Who are you!" Bodecia growled as she took off her hood.

Faith and King stared in revulsion at Bodecia as maggots and worms squirmed in the rotting flesh of her face and twisted in her empty eye sockets. When she spoke, the vermin dropped out of her mouth onto the floor.

"Do me a favor bitch." Faith said as she vamped out. "Put that hood back on."

"Get them!" Bodecia yelled out to her remaining five Bringers.

"King take care of those chumps and get the girl." Faith said looking over at Bodecia. "She's mine."

As he took off and engaged the Bringers, Faith ran towards her enemy. With a smile on her face and a flick of her wrist, Bodecia took control of Faith's body, freezing her in place. As she turned her hand, causing Faith to yell out in pain and levitate off her feet, Bodecia pulled the Slayer towards her.

"You're a vampire aren't you?" Bodecia asked, as Faith struggled to be set free.

"Yeah bitch." Faith growled. "What of it?"

"I just find it odd that you're here to save someone. You are trying to save the girl aren't you?"

"Emphasis on trying." Faith replied as she managed to lower her right arm.

Flicking her wrist, she managed to activate her wrist stake launcher and unfurl a stake. Using all the strength she could muster, she lunged forward and stabbed Bodecia in the middle of the forehead. As she keeled over in pain, her magick failed and Faith dropped to the floor.

"You stupid little..."

"Ahh..ahhh...ahhh." Faith softly chided, as she kicked Bodecia's legs from under her. Catching her before she fell, she stood her up and put her hands on either side of her head. "Watch your mouth." she said as she visciously twisted her neck. As the corpse hit the floor it immediately turned to dust.

"Faith." King said as he held Tara in his arms. Even though the girl was bleeding heavily, he had a few cuts himself that needed to be looked at. "We gotta get out of here now. She's losing a lot of blood."

"I'm right behind you." Faith said as she turned to follow him out of the tunnel. Before she did, some magical force called to her. Looking over towards a boulder, she saw a red gem sitting on top of it. Not knowing why, she snacthed it up and pocketed it, before following King out of the portal.

Faith's Apartment

Hours Later

"I'm glad we were able to get her here in time." King said, even as his arm was heavily bandaged. Tara hadn't lost as much blood as he had originally thought, so they had brought her to their home and he had bandaged her up.

"Yeah, that bitch cut her like she was a cat fish." Faith said as she looked down at Tara's sleeping form, then back at King. "Maybe when she wakes up, we can get her home number and call her folks."

"N-no." they both heard a voice stutter out. Looking back at the bed, they saw that Tara had regained conciousness. "P-please don't call them."

"Why?" King asked giving her a look.

"Because her parents abused her." Whistler said as he walked into the room, making Tara instantly drop her head down. "Or more accurately her father."

"Leave her alone." King growled as he reached over to grab him, only for Faith to get in the way.

"Faith I need to talk to you." Whistler said as he walked out of the room. Giving King a look, Faith walked out after the half demon.

"What's the sitch, Whis? I gotta tell you about..."

"The dreams you've been having. I know." he interrupted her. "The Powers just told me that they've been interfering with your dreams. Sending you visions. But don't worry it's only temporary."

"So they're responsible for me saving her?"

"Yeah." he confirmed. "And Faith she really needs to join your team."

"Why?"

"I can't give you all the info kid, but I'll say this. Tara has the potential to be a very powerful witch. A few years down the road and she's going to find out and fight against the darkness with or without you. And let me tell you kid she's going to die. Some crazy kid comes along and ends her life. But with you all of that can be changed."

"You're really laying it kinda thick."

"That's just how serious this is Faith." Whistler said as he moved towards the door. "You and King can't do all of this on your own."

"Hey Faith!" she heard King yell from the other room. Turning towards her room and then back at Whistler, she found that the half demon was already gone. Closing the door, she walked into the other room to see what King wanted.

"I don't care if Whistler's your friend or not, I don't like him." King immediately said as she entered the room. For some reason, he didn't like him talking to Tara like he did.

"King he was right." Faith said looking at the girl, hiding behind a vail of blonde hair. "Ain't that right Tar'?"

Not wanting to meet her gaze Tara didn't look up at her.

"Tara listen, I..."

"H...how do you know my name?" Tara asked. "Wh...what's going on? I...I don't fully understand what's happening?"

Giving King a look, the both of them told her what really went bump in the night and a little about their lives. They edited a few things here and there however, because of the strange looks Tara was giving them. They had only just met and they didn't want to scare the girl half to death.

"S...s...so you're a vampire?" Tara asked, at the end of Faith's story.

"More or less." she replied with a shrug. "Now, I've been doing a little thinking."

"Oh God the world must be ending." King said sarcastically, causing Faith to roll her eyes. Tara looked at their little exchange with some interest. She saw how close they were and wondered if the two were dating. If not maybe she still had a chance with the raven haired goddess.

"We really need a witch on our side. If you're interested in staying with us, we..."

"I'm interested." Tara said, causing King and Faith to give each other a look, because of her sudden enthusiasm.

"Well cool." Faith said as she remembered something. Taking out the wiccan necklace, she handed it over to her.

"Th...th...thank you." Tara said as she took the necklace. Her mother had given it to her years ago, before she had died.

"No prob." Faith said as she stood up from the bed. "Since you don't have much on the way of clothes, me and King are gonna take you shopping tomorrow night."

As she said that Tara shuddered involuntarily. She had already fell in love with the vampire, but if Faith was gonna pick out her clothes then she was in trouble. She didn't want to walk around wearing all leather.

"Speaking of money, I wanted to talk to you about that." King said as he pulled Faith to the side. "We're sitting pretty on the money situation right now, but it ain't gonna last forever. We gotta figure out a way to earn money."

"Wh...why don't you st...start a detective agency?" Tara suggested. "Y...you found me pretty easy a-and you like to help people."

"Damn. I think I like you already Tara." King said giving her a warm smile, which she returned. "I can see it now, King Investigations."

"You must've been drinking something, bro?" Faith asked, as she bumped him with a curvy hip. "There's no way in hell we're calling it that. We're gonna call it Faith investigations." as the two went back and forth with their argument, Tara silently wondered what she had gotten herself into.

A/N I wanted to make Tara a year older then she was in Sunnydale, to make her character fit the story better. Also, I hope you guys liked this chapter.


	7. Chapter 6 Who Are You

A/N Takes place a week after chapter 5. Oh and I might've forgotten to mention this but this story takes place during the summer after season 2 of Buffy. Also thanks for the review Faith-rulz and to all of my anonymous reviewers, you can now review my stories.

Chapter 6

Who Are You

A full week had passed since Tara had joined the team. Living with the wicca was cool, but there was still a few things Faith didn't like about her. Tara was a year older than Faith, but she was still so shy and easily controlled. She had alot of work to do, but Faith was up to the task of helping to change that.

But King however was all over the new girl, leaving Faith to think that he was developing a crush on her. Not that she was jealous or anything, but she just wanted him to spend more time with her, other then just being on patrol. Another thing they needed to work on was Tara's fighting abilities, or lack there of. She had already proven herself to be a good witch, but honestly they needed someone more physical when they were out on the field.

Even though they hadn't had a case yet, the manager of the building, more then insisted that they use the above office on the next floor above them, free of charge. Faith still suspected that he was still afraid of her, that led him to let them have the office with no charge. Maybe one reason for not having any business yet, was because they haven't picked out a name.

"Damn, I hate slime demons." Faith said as she walked into her office, with her broad sword dripping with green gunk.

"Who you tellin'?" King asked as he put his axe on a nearby table. His shirt was covered with green slime and gore. Taking it off, Faith stared at his well muscled chest, through his wife beater shirt that he had underneath the shirt. "I'm gonna be taking a shower for about a month."

"Hey Tar'." Faith greeted as the young wicca walked into the room, carrying a small box and a stack of papers. "Where were you this morning? I wanted you to get your hands dirty and help us kill off this demon in the sewers."

"S..sorry, I missed out on the fun." Tara said shyly as she looked up at Faith, then back to the floor. "Bu...but I...I was handing out these and getting these made." she said as she put the stack of papers on Faith's desk and handed her the tiny box.

"Wicked." Faith said as she eyed the calling card. "Faith in the King Investigations and look at that, it even has our phone number."

"And look at these flyers." King said as he held one up and read at the bottom. "Helping one soul at a time. I like that." he said making her blush. Just then an elderly woman walked through the front door and careful not to let the sun's rays touch her skin, Faith took a step back into the shadows.

"Is...is this Faith In The King investigations?" she asked, as she looked at all of their faces in turn. As they looked up at her, they could all tell that she had been crying recently.

"Yes ma'am." King said as he walked over to her and gently took her by the arm. "I'm King, she's Faith and that's Tara." he said as he pointed at his girls. "Now please have a seat and tell us all about your problem."

"Well, it's...it's my son. He's gone missing."

"Did you call the cops?" King questioned.

"Yes of course and they found him."

"Then what's the problem?" Faith asked.

"They...they found him dead." she said as she reached into her purse and handed her a piece of paper. Unfolding it, Faith saw that it was a newspaper clipping before reading it.

"The police found the body of a twenty-six year old Wilson Reagen in a two-bedroom suite at the Elondria Hotel. Unnamed witness said it was as if his insides had just collapsed."

"I...I know the case might sound strange..."

"Ma'am we deal with strange all the time." King said taking the article. "But not to sound rude, but what can we do now? I mean your son's dead."

"The police are totally baffled about this case and they have no idea what's happened to him. But I think my son was murdered and I'd like for you to find out by whom." she said as she started to dig into her purse again and pulled out a check book. "I'm willing to pay anything. What're your rates?"

"Two thou..."

"Three hundred." Faith cut King off, as she gave him a look. "Then another two when we solve the case."

"That's more then reasonable." Mrs. Reagen said as she wrote out the check.

"That's the same thing I was thinking." King said with a glare towards Faith.

"Thank you, thank you all." the old woman said as she stood to her feet and handed Faith the check and a slip of paper. "Here's my number, let me know if you find anything."

" Tar' open up a case file." Faith said as Mrs. Reagen walked out of the door. "We have to get on this right away." with that said Faith handed Tara the file with the newspaper clipping as she walked past her out of the office, King hot on her heels.

"Faith why did you take this case so cheap?" King asked as he grabbed her arm and whirled her around. "We're gonna risk our lives on this case and real detectives earn about three times as much."

"That's right King, real detectives." she said shrugging off his arm. "Which we ain't. And I guess you forgot that we ain't in this for just the money. We're in it to help people. And a lotta people we're gonna help ain't got alot of money."

"You're right." King said calming down. He was supposed to be helping Faith find her way, but it seemed that they were doing it for each other. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright, bro." Faith said slapping him lightly on the shoulder. "Just don't let it happen again or I'll fire your ass." she said with a smile as she walked off.

"Hey." King said running up behind her.

Later That Day

Running something on another computer King had bought, Tara took a printout from the printer and carried it over to where the others were leaning against the makeshift reception counter.

"There w..w...was some more victims throughout t...the last few weeks. They were all young, healthy m...m...males. They all died in expensive hotel suites."

"Can you imagine shelling out all that cash for a snazzy suite and then bam, you're a big bag of mush bones?" Faith asked.

"Yeah, I imagine that all the time." King replied with a roll of his eyes, before turning to Tara. "What else did you find out?"

"T..the only other thing t..that they had in common, w..w..was that they w..were all members of the same gym."

"Good. You did good." King complimented her. And she was doing well. She was a hell of alot better then him at computer hacking and organizing. He just wish that she'd show a little more confidence. "I was thinking you two could interview the staff of these hotels where the guys died and then go to the gym. I'm meeting a contact of mine from the coroner's office in thirty minutes. See what I can learn about these bodies."

"Okay, we'll just meet back up here in about three hours." Faith said walking to the door. "Come on Tara."

Even Later That Night

"Man that was a big waste of time." Faith said over to Tara as they walked out of Goldman's Gym. They had been going to every hotel on the list and then to the gym that the guys shared, but just like the first they didn't get any useful information. "Come on. Hopefully King found out something."

As she circled her motorcycle, ready to get on, she suddenly felt a pair of eyes watching her. Looking up she saw light reflecting off a pair of circles in one of the windows of the building across the street. Looking down at the sign in front of the other building, she saw that it was a retirement community.

"Let's try another lead first." she said as she got off the bike. Looking around, herself Faith grabbed Tara's arm and they both crossed the street.

Matching where the window was to the door, Faith knocked at the door of room 301, before seeing that the nameplate read Tyler Skyy. After a few seconds of knocking, an old white man wearing big, round glasses slowly opened the door.

"Can, I help you two girls?" Mr. Skyy asked as he looked at them both in turn.

"My name is Faith, Mr. Skyy." she said as she handed him one of their business cards.

"Faith in the King Investigations."

"W...would it be alright if we came inside and a...a...asked you a few questions?" Tara asked.

"Well, it's ah, pretty late."

"This shouldn't take long." Faith replied with a shrug.

After another second, Tyler turned and walked back into his room, leaving the door open. Faith shifted but remained standing outside, even as Tara walked in. Noticing that Faith didn't come in Tyler turned back and motioned for her to come in.

"Come on if you're coming."

With the invitation given Faith walked in, closing the door behind her. She then looked around and walked over to the window.

"Nice to have a view ain't it pops? You look out of here alot?"

"Not that, uh, much..." he paused as he saw Faith holding up the pair of binoculars she found on the window sill. "Um ...well, I don't see any harm in looking. That's about all I can do anymore. Now what is it you want?"

"Your help." Faith said putting down the binoculars and pulling out some newspaper clippings. "I wanted to know if you've seen either of these guys across the way in the gym."

"No. I don't think so." Tyler said flipping through the papers. "I'm more of a girl watcher. If you know what I'm saying?" he said looking at Faith and Tara up and down, with a grin, before looking back at the paper. "Jeez they all died? How?"

"That's what we're trying to find out." Faith said as Tara took her by the arm and pulled her to the side. "What's the prob?"

"He's lying." Tara whispered in her ear.

"How do you know?"

"B...b...because I can read his aura. W..w...when somebody lies their aura flashes yellow."

"Yeah, but what is he lying about?" Faith asked. "About not seeing the guys or is he involved in this somehow?"

"I...I don't know." Tara said sadly. "But he can't be all good." she said as she spotted a shelf holding various pottery. "Th...that's a Nothian herb jar. It's used by black arts mages."

"Hmm." Faith said as she walked away from Tara and up to the shelf to pick up the jar. "A Nothian herb jar. That's a pretty little thing. You didn't use this to deal in the occult did you?"

"The occult? How dare you girls accuse me of such a thing. I traveled a lot, I picked up some trinkets." As he said that Faith spotted some extreme occult type paraphernalia lying on the table. "Well some were trinkets." he said as he tried to run. Using her vampiric speed, Faith ran in front of him and grabbed him by the lapels of his shirt.

"What the hell kinda game are you playing at old man?" Faith asked.

"I...I don't have to talk to you. You're not the police." Tyler said calmly.

"You're right, I'm not a cop." Faith said as she vamped out. "But I am a monster."

"Oh, my God!"

"Oh now you want to call on, God?" Faith asked after his outburst. "Talk old man. What did you do?"

"I only wanted to have a little fun." Tyler admitted. "I'm an old man now and I didn't have a good life. But through those boys I got to live out some of my fantasies."

"And you also got them killed."

"Just a little side effect." he joked, as she growled.

"Where's your power source?"

"Over...over there." he said as he pointed at his coffee table. Looking over she saw a small black device, sitting on the table.

"Tara grab that and bring it over to me." Faith said as she loosened her grip on the man.

"You...you can't call the police on me." Tyler said grabbing his burning throat. "They won't believe in all of that magic mumbo jumbo. Without concrete evidence that I did something..."

"You're right." Faith cut him off. "I can't call the police. But I can do something else with you." she said as she made a show of licking her fangs and making him gulp.

Moving over to Tara, Faith grabbed her hand and held it tight, holding the small device between their palms. A glowing light then started to emanate from their hands as the device activated. After a second both young women reacted as if hit by a shockwave. When the power faded Faith looked at their clasped hands then lifted her eyes and seemed surprised as she looked at her own body looking back at her.

As both girls came to their senses they saw that the device broke and that Tyler had fled the scene.

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"Hey Faith I need to talk to you about something personnel." King said as he immediately grabbed her hand and started to take her in the other room.

"King." Tara spoke up to get his attention.

"I'll be right back." he said as he ducked his head out of the door, before closing it. "Alright Faith, just let me do all the talking first. I really like Tara and I think she's pretty." he said making Faith blush, if that were possible for a vampire to do. "I wanted your advice, should I ask her out or should we just stay friends?" before she could answer Tara burst through the room and looked at them.

"King, me and Tara switched bodies." as she said that he looked at both of his girls. And damn he had let his secret out.

(I hate putting notes in stories but for this part of the story Faith and Tara have switched bodies. So from now on in this chapter when I say Tara I'm talking about her doing things in Faith's body and vice versa. I hope I haven't confused anyone.)

"So what happened?" King asked after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.

"We found out who the bad guy was." Faith said as she pulled out a cigarette and started to smoke.

"H...hey." Tara said as she jerked the cig out of her bodies mouth. "Faith that's still m...my body."

"Come on Tar' it's just one cigarette. It ain't gonna hurt ya."

"Guy's focus...what the hell happened?" King asked.

"There was this old guy that was using some kind of spell to send himself into young dudes bodies. He used this thing and put the whammy on us." Faith said as she handed him the broken device.

"What is it?" King asked, as he placed it on his desk.

"I was hoping you could tell us?"

"Well, maybe me and Tara can figure it out." King said as he looked over at Faith's body.

"Yeah, you do that." Faith said standing to her feet. "I'm gonna get some sleep."

"Faith what about that guy? Aren't you gonna go looking for him?"

"How can I stop him when I'm not even in the right body?" she asked as she turned around to look at him. "Besides, I scared him half to death when I vamped out. He won't do anything any time soon."

Grande Hotel

Sametime

Panting heavily, a young man rolled over in bed with two women. Rubbing his chest he looked up to the ceiling satisfied.

"Can we take a breather, stud?" the blonde asked. "We've already banged bodies three times."

"If you need a break babe then take it." he replied as he turned to the other girl.

"Hey, tiger. Me too. Just for a minute?" the brunette, said as she wiped a bead of sweat off of her body. 'Damn who is this guy?' with a shrug the guy got out of bed with a sigh and went to pour himself a martini, by the mini bar in the corner of the room.

"Pace yourself, sweetheart."

"Mmm, it's good to be young." he whispered to himself as he admired himself in the mirror.With a shake of his head, he then walked back towards the bed. "So. Ready for round four?"

But as soon as those words left his mouth, he suddenly hunched over in pain. His spell was wearing off.

"You okay, baby?" the blonde asked concerned, as she sat up in bed.

"Oh, believe me girls it's been fun. Alli permutat anima kimota. Alli permutat anima kimota. Alli permutat anima kimota."

Finishing the spell, a stream of red-white energy issued forth from his eyes and mouth. The stream cut off and the man turned to look at the girls watching wide-eyed from the bed. The girls started to scream just as he began to steam and his body began to deflate into a puddle of skin on the ground.

The Next Day

"Damnit!" King said aloud as he put down the morning's paper.

"W...what is it?" Tara asked as she walked up to him. Last night was officially one of the wierdiest nights of her life. Not only was she trapped in the body of the girl she had a crush on, but she was now craving blood and had so many new memories and thoughts in her head.

"There was another murder last night." he replied as he handed her the paper. "And it was our boy."

"Hey, I brought some breakfast." Faith said as she walked into the room wearing tight leather pants, with a box of donuts and a small container of blood.

"How...how was your night?" King asked as he stared at Tara's body in leather. 'Damn she looks good.' he thought to himself as Tara handed the paper back to him.

"I slept like a rock." Faith said as she dug into the donut box.

"You're all happy." King noted. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, bro. I just feel different." she said casting a glance towards Tara.

"Well get ready to get that smirk off your face, because that old geezer you were telling me about struck again."

'Damn.' she thought to herself as she took the offered newspaper. "Well I think we need to go out on patrol tonight, to see if we can get some info. Because I highly doubt that he's gonna go back to his apartment anytime soon."

"You sure you're up for that, Faith? I mean..."

"I don't know how long me and Tar are gonna be like this. We might as well get used to it."

"M...m...maybe I should stay here tonight." Tara stuttered as she stood to her feet. "You know to see if I...I...I can find some information."

"Oh no, you're not gonna weasel yourself outta this one. We're all gonna do some research on what happened all today, but we're all going to go out to the cemetery tonight and patrol."

"B...but..."

"No but's Tar." Faith cut her off. "You're in my body now and you got my skills. We're gonna need your help tonight. Besides..." she said with a shrug. "I'm learning how to use your body." with that said a book quickly levitated over to Faith, who caught it with one hand, easily. "See, now what's your excuse?"

With a gulp, Tara thought about how much pain she was going to be in tonight.

Late That Night

Cobbleton Cemetery

"Alright, Tar' remember everything I told ya." Faith said as she turned around and looked at her.

Through all the research they had found that night, they had found out that Tyler Skyy had lied to them and was using a different spell all together. They were running a search on what he could possibly do and how to change back, and hopefully the computer would tell them how to counter-act the spell. When they had started their patrol, they had found out that a man named Willy, was working both sides of the track as a snitch and that he hung out around this cemetery.

"You ain't got magic to rely on now, so be on guard. Just do what you've seen me do in tight spots."

"D...d...does anybody else hear that sound?" Tara asked as her vampiric ears picked up something.

"Hear what?" Faith asked as she turned to look at her.

"It sounds like something whistling..." before she could finish her sentence, a knife whirled past them and nearly hit Tara in the chest, but only by a demonic reflex was she able to catch it in time. Letting it fall from the palm of her hand she watched as five vampires advanced towards them out of the shadows.

Giving each other a look, King and Faith ran off into the fray, leaving Tara to stand there and literally shake in her Dock Martin boots.

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Ducking under a spin kick, Faith spun on her heel and hit her would be attacker in the face. Her punches had little effect and more importantly she was already tired.

'Damn, note to self, make Tara exercise.' Faith thought to herself as she lunged out with her stake and stabbed the vampire through the heart. Even before the dust cloud could dissipate, a pair of crushingly strong hands grabbed her by the throat.

Before she could defend herself against his attack, he threw her, with bone jarring force into a tombstone, destroying it on impact. Hurt but not unconcious, she waited until the vampire came closer to her, before kneeing him in the crotch. Waiting until he bent down in pain, she stood up and stabbed him in the back making him fall over and turn into dust. About to go over to another vamp, she suddenly heard her real body screaming. Looking up she saw a vampire looming over Tara.

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Going with the punch of the blow that was delivered to him, King turned around and quickly lobed off the head of the nearest vampire. His ears ringing, he tried to do the same to the vamp beside him, only for his axe to be knocked out of his hand. Waiting until the vampire lunged at him, he activated his wrist stake launcher and stabbed it in the chest.

Turning to see how everyone else was doing, he saw that Tara was in trouble.

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"So you're the vampiric Slayer the whole town's been buzzing about?" Andrew asked as he looked at Tara up and down. He sensed power radiating off of her, but also something else that brought a smile to his face. He smelt fear. "Hmmm, this shouldn't take long."

With that said, he jumped into a lunge only for Tara to back peddle and make him land on his face. With a growl he got on his back and looked up at her, holding his mouth.

Andrew suddenly hopped to his feet and roared at her. Taken aback by that, Tara took a few quick steps backward, even as the vampire took two steps toward her. All of a sudden Faith grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him back away from Tara, making Andrew lose his balance in the process.

"I got him! Go!" at Faith's yell King jumped out from behind a bush and started to run toward them, but then hesitated a moment to pick up the axe he had dropped. "Any time now..."

By then Andrew had regained his balance, and used Faith's grip to stabilize himself, kicked up with both legs and did a double pike snapping kick to King's face, making him stumble backward and fall. Without pausing, Andrew leaped up again and did a back tuck over Faith's head. Gathering her stake, Faith tried to rush him, but Andrew used his momentum to deflect her into Tara, making them both go crashing to the ground. Tara moaned, but quickly sat up to watch Andrew run away.

"He...he's getting away! And... ow." she cried as she held her arm. Faith scrambled to her feet and picked up her stake.

She watched the demon running and held her stake by the tip, preparing to throw it like a knife. Andrew leaped over a rock and continued running, while she threw the stake. It whistled through the air as it flew end over end, and hit the rock, bouncing off of it with a loud thunk and flying wild.

"Damn." Faith said, letting out a huge sigh. 'I can't wait until I get my body and powers back.'

"Come on." King said, dissappointed himself as he slung his axe over his shoulder. "The crypt is right over there."

As they walked towards it, they all readied their weapons and looked back at Tara.

"Co...couldn't we j...just gently open the door?" she asked, causing Faith and King to give her an irritated glance. Seeing that they were mad at her, Tara lifted up her foot and kicked the door. To her surprise the crypt door shattered like glass, even as the others strolled into the room.

As Tara entered behind them, even though the room was dark, she could still see almost perfectly. Even the pair of eyes that sat watching them in the corner.

"Slayer?" the man's weasely voice asked. Stepping forward, even as her body shook, Tara nodded her head. "Oh God, please don't kill me." the man said as he came out of the shadows, kneeled down before her and grabbed onto her leg's. He was about five feet tall, skinny, looked to be human, and wore tattered clothes.

"Get up." Faith said with a shake of her head, as she and King grabbed either side of his arms and hauled him to his feet. "Now we heard that you were the friendly neighborhood snitch?"

"Yes, yes, I'll tell you anything. Just don't kill me." he begged as he stared up at Tara, who awkwardly stood menacing in front of him. He had heard what she had done to Kakisto's and other key demons in town and he didn't want it to happen to him.

"Alright we're looking for a man..."

"Yes...yeah I'll find you a man."

"Will you just shut up?" King asked. "We ain't gonna hurt you, just as long as you tell us what we need to know. Now have you heard of a guy named Tyler Skyy."

"He...he used to be a top sorcerer back in the day. Anytime anybody needed anything they would go to him."

"Do you know where he would be?" Faith asked.

"The last I heard he was retired." Willy said with a shrug. "But he used to have a warehouse downtown, called...the...the Skyy Light."

"I know where that is." King said, as he and Faith let go of him and ran for the door.

"Bye." Tara said with a wave as she turned around and ran after the others, leaving a stunned Willy behind.

"So that was the Slayer?" he asked himself. "Well, she seemed nice. Alot nicer then the Slayer in Sunnydale."

The Skyy Light

An Hour Later

As the group pulled up in front of a group of warehouses, King looked up and saw a faded sign that read The Skyy Light.

"I remember this place from when, I was a little kid." King said as he got out of the truck. "They used to make some of the best tuna in town. I can't believe this creep used to own it."

"Was that the same crap you used to give me, when we first met?" Faith asked grabbing a broad sword. "It was alright."

"Come on let's get this over with." King said grabbing his axe. "That old fart shouldn't be too hard to take down."

"You just had to open your big mouth didn't you?" Faith asked as a few demons came running towards them. "Brace yourself Tara...Tara?" as she looked around Tara was gone.

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Upon arriving at the warehouse and stepping out of the truck, Tara immediately started to look towards a large window. As she did so, she saw something that she would've mistaken as a shadow, but was really Mr. Skyy in a cloak, watching her. His now intense magic calling her, she followed.

Seeing that her friends were about to fight some demons, she somehow knew that they would be okay, and walked through the front door, only to be immediately taken off of her feet by an invicible force. Crashing into some wooden crates, a stake went through her heart. Her hands trembling with fear and her body wracking with pain she sat up, pulled out the wood, and watched in amazement as her wound healed itself.

"It's funny really." Tyler said as he walked towards her and removed the hood of his black ceremonial robe. "I had long ago given up my hardcore magick, but when I felt your magick...well your real bodies magic, it influenced me. I think I'll start my life over, but in a new body. I'll be better than ever, thanks to you." he said as he held his hand out, making her shoot up off of the floor and levitate a few feet in the air. "Think about that before I kill you."

"N...no!" Tara screamed out as Tyler pumped more power into his attack, making her convulse in pain.

"N...no what?" he asked, making fun of her speech impediment. "You know it's funny that, when you two girls came to my apartment that you didn't notice me reading your mind. I gotta tell you kid you lived a pretty pathetic life." he said making her bow her head down in shame. "You were so freaking weak." he said as he summoned a piece of wood from the floor to him and thrusted it into Tara's chest.

Tara gasped as Tyler turned the stake, with a look of confusion on his face.

"I thought sure that you were a vampire." Tyler said as he took the stake out and threw it to the floor. "What is this body you inhabited you stupid girl?"

As he said that Tara looked up at him, through her vail of her, with a frown on her face. Her father had always called her that and she had just taken it, believing him. But now a fire filled her very core as this man... this stranger said that. Foreign anger filled her heart, begging her to release it.

Dropping her hand down to her side, she conjured one large fireball in her palm, and it exploded, the force of it sending Tyler across the room into a wall, knocking him out, which released Tara from his grip.

Falling down on her feet, something else filled inside of her. It was something she had never felt before, but felt like she could identify anyway. It was bloodlust. Vamping out, she was about to run over and feast on him, until she felt a pair of strong, warm hands, wrap around her shoulders and another pair around her waist. Turning she saw that it was her friends.

"Tara it's over." Faith said in her ear. Listening to her voice, seemed to calm her and Tara dropped out of her vampiric visage, before turning back to Faith and then King.

"Let's get the hell out of here."

Later That Night

After Tara told Faith how to use her magical abilities, all three of them participated in a binding spell that bound Tyler Skyy's power so he would never hurt anyone again. And to make extra sure of that, they had called the police and told them that he was responsible for killing all of the young men over the last couple of weeks, saying that he had given them a drug. And upon further investigation of him, they found that he was also guilty of tax fraud, so he would be in jail for a long time. As a reward for his capture, the police had given them five thousand dollars.

When they had finally gotten home and looked on King's computer, they had seen that the search was finished. It was a Draconian Katra spell, that had put the whammy on them. Getting the ingredients together, they had finally decided to try it out.

"Here goes nothing." Faith said as she caught Tara's palm and after a second their hands started to glow with the katra between their palms. As power radiated through them they nearly fell over as the switch started to happen. Faith and Tara felt disoriented as they found themselves suddenly back in thier own bodies.

"Is everybody...everybody?" King asked confused as he looked between them.

"Yeah, Faith said with a smile as she turned to look at him.

"Unfortunately..." Tara said with a wince, because of all the bruises on her body.

"Sorry Tar'." Faith said with a shrug.

"Well, I'm glad you guys are back to normal." King said as he headed for the door. "Mrs. Reagen will be here in a few minutes with our check and Tara, I'll bring you some pain killers." giving her a look, Tara smiled at him indicating that they should have a little talk later.

"So how did it feel to be me?" Faith asked as King walked out of the room.

"It felt cold." Tara said awkwardly. She took it for granted all these years by being warm in her own body, but after a day of being so cold inside... "But, I also felt angry and powerful. How do you deal with all that?"

"One day at a time." she replied glumly. "And when I was in your body, I felt a few things..."

'No, I...I don't want her to know about my feelings for her yet.' Tara thought to herself. 'How is she gonna take...'

"And I was thinking that I wanted you to teach me how to do magick." Faith finished.

"Was...was that it?" Tara asked relieved.

"Yeah." Faith said with a raised eyebrow. "Why?"

"N...no reason."

"I wanted to talk to you about something else too. When I was in your body, I saw some of the things your pa, did to you. They were almost as bad as what my ma did to me. Well anyway I just wanted to say that he was an asshole and you're not a thing or a demon."

"T...thanks."

"No prob, Tar'." Faith said as she put her arm around her shoulder. "Now let's go and get some real food. I'm starved. Oh and we can tease King about him having a crush on you."

The roof of Mr. Gil's Apartment

Sametime

Unforgiving rain thundered out of the sky as Gil, slid about on the roof practicing with his sword. He had taken off his suit and was now in a baby blue jacket, with no shirt underneath, wearing leather pants and had his white hair spiked up.

Finally finishing his practicing and heavily panting, he dropped to one knee and stuck his sword blade through the floor of the roof. Suddenly memories of Sunnydale and of his little brother Xander flashed through his mind like a tidal wave. Before it could get too out of control, a sudden cloudiness filled his mind, supressing those memories. Standing back to his feet, he continued his practice, thinking all about how he would face the Slayer soon.


	8. Chapter 7 Rival

A/N This story will eventually lead over to a Pirates of the Carribbean crossover. Also this chapter takes place a month after chapter six.

Chapter 7

Rival

Spring Side Cemetery

Night

Four vampires ran tightly together, terrified, through the darkened graveyard, jumping over bushes and tombstones. Seeing a crypt in the distance, they ran for it.

"Damn...is he...is he still following us?" the shortest vampire of the group asked as he looked over his shoulder.

"I...I don't know man." another said, looking over at him. "Let's just rest for a sec, and then we'll go tell the boss about this later." as they said that, they ran to the crypt and leaned on the outside of it.

"Did you see what that guy did to Franky?" the short one asked his group. "That guy was a lunatic."

"Not a lunatic." a voice said out of the shadows as a bolt from a crossbow pierced the one who was talking heart. As he crumbled into dust, the man came out of the shadows and was wearing a leather jacket and pants set, with a motorcycle helmet. "I'm a rogue demon hunter."

With that said a vamp let out a growl and charged him. Ducking under the lunge, the demon hunter shot out an elbow, catching the demon on the base of the jaw. Before it had time for another attack, the hunter shot out another bolt, hitting it squarely in the heart.

Suddenly a hand came out of the shadows, slapping the crossbow out of his hands. With a startled gasp, he was tossed into the air, where he crumbled seemingly unconcious next to the side of the crypt.

"Come on, Johnny let's get the hell out of here." the blonde haired vamp said as he turned to run.

"No. This son of a bitch cost me my gang." Johnny said with a sneer. "The least I can do is kill him for that." as he leaned down to bite the man in leather on the neck, he suddenly shot up and stabbed Johnny in the chest with a concealed stake. Seeing the other one trying to escape, he took out a mini crossbow out of his leather jacket and shot him in the chest, with deadly accuracy even as he ran.

"So this is, Boston." the demon hunter said as he walked back towards his motorcycle. "I think, I'll rather like it here...oh!" he yelled as he slipped on a wet patch of grass and fell flat on his ass.

Kingpin Bowlerama

An Hour Later

A vampire held a severed human head in his hands like a bowling ball and lined up his shot. Throwing it, he rolled the head down the lane but it missed the pins altogether.

"Damn, it didn't work." he said with a groan as he looked back up the lane at his friends, a group of about fifteen vampires, all lounging around and carousing. They had wanted to have a little fun that night, so they had went to the nearest bowling alley massacred a bunch of people and started playing while they waited for their other friends.

"I could have told you that." a pretty latina woman said as she stood to her feet. She had long black hair, tied in a ponytail with red highlights and she was wearing some skin tight jeans and a white tank top. "Now clean up my lane, jackass." as she said that the first vampire stalked down to the end of the lane and picked up the head.

"Let's go back to Boston you said." the first vampire mumbled under his breath . "It could be fun out you said. Could be the feast of the century. But we've been back for two weeks and here we are wasting our time. Bowling." he said incredously.

"I'm telling you, something big is coming," the girl said as she looked over at him. "and when it gets here, we're going to be in prime position for-"

"An ass whuppin'?" the vampires then turned around at the voice only to find Faith and King , along with Tara, standing in the door. They charged the vampires, blades and weapons swinging and finding their marks as Tara circled the melee, keeping her distance from the fighting.

It seemed that Faith's slayer visions were becoming a little more vivid and it led them here. But looking around at all of the dead bodies she saw that they were too late.

Suddenly the latina vampire broke free from Faith and attacked Tara before she could raise her crossbow. The vampire sank its claws into her arm before Faith was able to yank her off of her.

"You okay?" Faith asked, even over the brawl that was taking place.

"Yea...yeah." Tara replied with a wince as she held her arm. "Watch out!"

Turning she hurled a vampire into the bowling alley's cement wall, while the vampire that attacked Tara ran back behind the lanes and into the nest of shadows among the pin-setting machinery. Faith saw her go and after making sure King and Tara were safe, she gave chase.

Picking up her speed Faith chased the vampire out into the night and through an outdoor café next door. The vampiress, looked behind herself, terrified and ran right into one of the patrons, making them both tumble to the ground. Faith leaped on the vampire and yanked the creature to its feet, only to jump back startled as she looked into the eyes of one of her most hated bullies when she was a little girl.

"Michelle?"

"Firecracker?" the vampiress asked, equally shocked as she looked up at Faith.

Seeing that she was startled, Michelle brought up a knee and kicked Faith in the stomach doubling her up. Instead of trying to reminess of old times, she decided now was the time to flee. Looking up, all Faith could do was watch as she ran away.

Flashback

The Outskirts Of Boston

1989

Little kids giggled and ran around in a huge rock quarry. Hearing a commotion, they all ran towards the edge of the dizzingly long drop and saw a crowd of people surround little Faith and Michelle.

"You're gonna jump off that cliff Faith and you're going to do it now!" Michelle growled as her and her gang edged Faith closer to the edge. "If you don't I'll push you in."

"I'd like to see you try." Faith said defensively as she rubbed at the sores Michelle and the others had given her.

"Suit yourself, Firecracker." Michelle said with a wink as she shoved Faith hard, knocking her over and into the freezing water below.

End Flashback

"So you've been lying to me this whole time?" King asked as he sat down on their couch. "I thought you said you jumped into that water on your own?"

"Are you crazy?" Faith asked as she gave him a look. "I was too scared to do it, because I could've broken my neck. Anyway, Michelle moved away a little after that happened so I started to tell people that I jumped and that gave me my street cred."

"So...so your bully's a vampire now?" Tara asked as she subconciously rubbed at the sore the vampiress had given her.

"Yeah and what's worse is that bitch stole something important to me." Faith replied as she sat down next to her. "It was something my ma gave me before she started to drink. It was in my family for a long time."

Abandoned Warehouse

Sametime

Michelle layed back on some high crates in an old warehouse, looking out into the night.

'I can't believe that I ran into Firecracker.' she thought to herself as she twirled a necklace with a golden spanish doubloon in it, in her hand. It was made out of 18kt gold and had the depiction of a spanish cross on it and for some reason she wasn't repelled by it because of it's holy image. She had stolen it from Faith the day she had pushed her into the rock quarries pond. "But if she was a vampire, then why the hell was she trying to kill me?"

"It's because she's part Slayer too." a voice spoke from the darkness. Jumping off of the crates, to the floor, she looked around and saw a figure stepping out of the darkness.

"Are you loco?" Michelle asked as she saw a man wearing a baby blue jacket and white spikey hair walking towards her. "Don't you know who I am?"

"My name isn't loco it's Gi..." before he could get it out another flash of memory suddenly struck into his mind, making him hold the side of his temple in pain. "My name is Vergil Sparda and you my dear are Michelle Rodrigez, one of the most notorious vampires of our time."

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I came here for you." Vergil said as he stepped closer to her. "It seems that we have a common enemy."

"Faith?" Michelle asked aloud.

"Yes."

"What do you mean that she's a vampire and a Slayer? That's impossible."

"Not impossible, just hard to explain."

"I kicked her ass all of my life, so why would I need your help to do that now?"

"Because I can offer you power." Vergil said as he suddenly appeared behind her, whispering into her ear.

"What the..."

"With the power of Lord Ahriman running through my veins, I could give and show you things you've never seen before." Vergil went on. "And as for you...kicking her ass this time, that's highly unlikely."

"Yeah right. When I kick her ass it's gonna be like old times."

"Just think about what I'm offering you, Michelle." he said as he took her arm. "I'm offering you a position as one of my generals to take down the Slayer and then the world."

"I'll take my chances." she replied as she jerked her arm free and started to walk off.

"Suit yourself." Vergil said with a shrug, as he jumped up onto the rafters. "Just don't come crying to me when the Slayer slays you." and with that he was gone.

"Stupid gringo." Michelle said as she picked up her jacket off of the dirty floor, as she did so a card fell out of one of the pockets. Picking it up, she smiled as she read the Faith in the King Investigations tag on the top of it. "The nights still young, I'll just get another gang. Then I'll show her what a real vampire can do."

Faith's Apartment

The Next Day

"Huuh!" Tara growled as she threw Faith over her shoulder. Rolling on the mat, Faith came back up on her feet and smiled back at her friend. Between her, King and the cases, they've been teaching Tara the basics of grappling.

It took longer than usual to teach her however, because Tara didn't want to hurt anyone. The break through only came when King asked her, what if other people's lives were at stake and she was the only one that could help them at the time. What would she do? Which lead them to the agreement of teaching her to slowly fight.

"That was good, Tar' " Faith said, beaming at her. "Now I think it's time for you to move on to actual fighting. I'm gonna teach you just a few moves and then, I'm gonna teach you how to counter with all the one's you just learned."

Going through a series of moves, Tara watched as Faith moved gracefully with her body. It was almost like a deadly ballet, as she spun and extended her legs.

"Alright, you see what I just did?"

"Y...y...yes." Tara said as she stepped forward.

"Alright, come at me with the combo I just did and I'll show you how to block it."

Running up to her, Tara tried the punch combo and a kick, which Faith effortlessly blocked. Trying the combo again, Faith grabbed Tara's leg and tripped her with her other foot. Not letting go of Faith's shirt, they both went down in a heap on the floor, with Faith on top.

'Oh Goddess, why can't I tell her how I feel?' Tara thought to herself as she looked up, her breath catching, at Faith smiling down at her. "Fa...Faith can I tell you something?"

"Hey guys." King said as he opened the door to the room and peeked in. "I'm not interrupting anything am, I?" he asked with a smile as Faith finally got off of Tara.

"You jackass, you know we don't swing that way." Faith said as she walked over to him and slapped him on the arm, hard. "Now what do you want?"

"I ah...actually wanted to talk to Tara alone for a second." he said a bit nervously as he leaned on the wall. Giving him a look, Faith silently walked out of the room.

"Wha...what did you want to talk to me about?" Tara asked as she looked to the floor.

"I wanted to talk about...about us." King replied as he put a hand under her chin and made her look up at him. "I can't lie to you Tara, I think you're beautiful and I really like..."

"I can't." Tara said as she dropped her gaze and walked towards the door.

"Tara." King called out, making her stop in her tracks. Not turning around, she continued her run and ran out of the room. "Damn, what did I say that was wrong?"

------------

Faith was about to spy on what King and Tara were saying, until her telephone started to ring. Rolling her eyes, she ran over to the bleating phone and nearly dropped it after hearing the voice on the other end.

"Hello, Firecracker."

"Michelle? How the hell did you get this number?" Faith asked as she saw Tara running out of the other room.

"Let's just say a little blue birdie told me." came the vampiress reply. "Now let's get to business. I'm going to kick your ass...mmmmm soon." she said with a laugh.

"We ain't little kids anymore bitch. I'll take you on anytime, anywhere."

"Let's do this tonight then." Michelle said as she stopped laughing. "All you gotta do is find me." she said hanging up the phone. With a growl, Faith did the same and looked around the room angrily. For tonight she was going to end this.

Barkshire Cemetery

Later That Night

"So are you picking up anything, yet?" King asked as he, Tara, and Faith walked through the dark cemetery. They came to the conclusion that since they had slayed Michelle's gang that she would probably be out searching for new recruits.

He had to admit that even though he was in a place of death it was peaceful and he didn't feel creeped out at all, except by the wierd look Tara kept giving him. That was when she decided to look up at him.

"No." Faith replied as she looked around and sniffed the air. "Hey and what the hell did you say to Tara?" she whispered into his ear. "She hasn't been the same all day. You had better not have hurt her."

Hearing a whirling sound, she turned just in time to catch a bolt from a crossbow. Looking up they saw a man wearing glasses and tight leather walking out of the shadows.

"Keep your hands up where, I can see them." the man said in a british accent, as he stopped in front of them with a crossbow.

"Who the hell are you?" Faith asked as she dropped the spent bolt to the ground.

"I am Wesley Wyndam Pryce." he replied as he adjusted his glasses. "A rogue demon hunter. Surely you've heard of me?"

"Um...no."

"Well." Wes started, dissappointed that his reputation hadn't spread around yet.

"Look, if you're a demon hunter then we're fighting on the same side."

"The same side of what exactly?" Wes asked. "You're a vampire and..."

Catching onto Faith's hand jesture's, Tara tapped into her magick and used it to slap Wesley's weapon out of his hand with an invisible force. Using the distraction, Faith ran forward and back handed him hard on the face, before picking him up off of his feet by his lapels.

"Alright Wussley..." Faith started with a snarl. "I've really had a bad day and I don't have time for your bullshit. This is my turf, now what the hell are you doing on it?"

"I...I...need to breathe." Wes managed to get out, his face turning blue, making Faith loosen her grip. "I've been tracking a particularly nasty group of vampires across a few states and I've finally tracked them to Boston."

"That's the same thing we were doing." King interrupted. "Well we did kill the gang, we're just searching for their boss Michelle now."

"Michelle Rodrigez, you...you've already slain her cohorts?"

"Yeah, that's the group you were looking for?"

"Yes, she was turned only a couple of years ago but her reputation for brutal killings is overwhelming. If she's not slain soon, I fear that it will be worse then when Angelus was around."

"Then let's pull our resources together. Maybe we could..."

"Fuck!" Faith yelled as she grabbed her head in pain.

"What's the matter with her?" Wesley asked as King and Tara ran over to help her.

"She's having a vision, so just stay back." King ordered as he looked down at his partner. "Faith what do you see?"

"I see a dark room, with some vampires shoving people around, trashing a party and killing people."

"Where?" King asked as the vision showed flyers and pennants on the floor.

"Boston College. Chestnut hall." Faith said as the vision started to fade. "Room...room 612."

The vision then continued with a shot of a scared-looking girl, and then Michelle in vamp face grabbing a young man and pulling him against her, stroking his chest.

"Listen, Wuss if you're with us then you're with us." Faith said panting as she looked up at him. "If not, then get the hell out of our way."

"I'm with you."

Chestnut Hall

Room 612

Young men were sprawled all around the room, bloody and unmoving as King, Faith, Tara and Wes entered, walking around looking at the victims. A piece of paper hitting his foot King leaned down and picked up a flyer from the floor.

"So much for being the party of the century."

"Some of them are still alive." Faith observed as she heard the faint heart beats of those around her. "I can't believe that bitch beat us here."

"There's been an accident." Wes said into the room's phone as he dialed 911. "We need two, maybe three ambulances." as he was saying that Faith looked around more and walked over to the window."...Boston College, Chestnut Hall, room six twelve. Hurry."

"They're heading north on Fifth Street. Take the truck." Faith said as she opened up the double doors that led to outside.

"What are you gonna do?" King asked as Faith turned back from the window letting him see that she was now in her vamp face. "Oh."

With that said she leaped out the window and scaled the side of the building to the roof. Looking around she jumped to a lower roof, jumped down from there and started to run from rooftop to rooftop.

-------------

The sounds of laughing and cheering could be heard as a convertible roared down the dark streets of Boston. There was a male vamp driving with Michelle in the passenger seat and a male hostage between them. In the backseat were two more male vamps and a female hostage. With a smile Michelle reached over and ruffled the young man's hair.

"Please...please let us go." the blonde haired boy said as he nervously looked at them.

"What was that lover?" Michelle asked as she leaned in closer to hear. "I couldn't hear what you were saying over the sound of you pissing yourself." she said causing the others to laugh.

Suddenly something landed on the car, Faith. Everyone in the car screamed as she punched the driver in the face.

The car screeched to a stop just as Wes, Tara, and King drove up behind it and stop also.

Faith then punched one of the vamps in the back of the car as Wes and King collected weapons out of the back of the truck, just as Tara got behind the wheel incase of a quick getaway. Seeing that they were getting ready Faith lifted the two hostages out of the car by the front of their shirts, holding them up in front of her. Shivering in fear all they could do was stare at her in terror.

"Run!" she yelled as she put them on the ground and shoved them away as Michelle stood up in the car and kicked Faith in the face.

"Just like old times ain't it Firecracker?" Michelle asked as she pimp slapped Faith hard on the face, knocking her off the top of the vehicle. "Me kicking your ass and loving it. It just brings back so many memories."

As they talked the other vamps got out of the car and the fight began. King took one of the vamps while Faith took on the driver and Michelle, leaving Wes to get roughed up by the other one.

Doing a side kick, Faith pinned the driver against the car when Michelle hit her from behind and she elbowed her away. Wes and King stake their two vamps as Faith continued with the driver and Michelle continued to hit her from behind. Quickly staking the driver Faith reached behind her, and grabbed Michelle by the front of her shirt.

"Before I stake you, I'm taking back what's mine, bitch." Faith scowled as she ripped her golden doubloon necklace from Michelle's neck.

"It'll just be more fun taking it back." Michelle replied as she kicked Faith in the stomach, knocking her away.

After vamping out Michelle jumped at Faith. Upon seeing her coming Faith ducked, and hit then kicked her as she got back up. With a growl Michelle hit Faith in the stomach then the back dropping her to the ground, before throwing her across the street. It was then that Faith realized that Michelle seemed at least as strong and as fast as her and after some more fighting Faith swung her around in front of her, but before she could stake her, she felt a large amount of power coming from her side.

Looking beside herself, she was immediately taken off her feet by a powerful punch, that knocked her into the convertible and made her drop out of her vampiric guise.

"What...Vergil?" Michelle asked as she saw her white haired saviour.

"I saw you needed a little help." he said as he picked her up and jumped high into the air, landing on top of a buildings roof. Chancing a glance down at the others, he took off with Michelle and into the night.

"Fuck." Faith growled as she stood to her feet, the others gathering around her. "Who the fuck was that?"

"I don't know." King, said as he put his axe over his shoulder. "But let's just go home."

Vergil's Apartment

Later That Night

"Hey, these are some nice diggs." Michelle said as she walked around and looked at his lavishly furnished apartment. "But I still don't understand something. You have the power to take Faith out with one punch... you could have killed her easy. What the hell do you need me for?"

"As I told you before, I need you to be a general in my army." Vergil said as he took off his long coat. "And as for Faith, yes I want her dead but just not yet. She's still useful to me."

"So when is this war supposed to take place?"

"Oh it's already taking place." he replied with a shrug. "But I still need another general. Now come here." he said as he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close. "That's consummate our new partnership."

Faith's Apartment

Sametime

"I was originally supposed to go to Sunnydale to assist Mr. Rupert Giles in being Kendra the vampire Slayer's, Watcher." Wesley was saying as Tara handed him a cup of tea. "Thank you." he said as she bowed her head and walked off.

"So why ain't you there?" King asked, as he rubbed his still aching stomach.

"I was going, but when I got there Mr. Giles informed me that she, Alexander Harris, and his girl friend all perished in a war with Ahriman."

'Damnit.' Faith thought to herself. 'I wonder if I could make a sacrifice like that when the time comes.' with that thought in mind, she walked into the kitchen to get some fresh bandages for King's wound.

"When I went back to the Council they informed me..." he stopped for a moment to clear his throat. "That I no longer was needed."

"So you became a rogue demon hunter?"

"Exactly."

"Well, I don't know who that guy was that helped Michelle." Faith said as she returned to the room with some bandages and two boxes of pizza. "But it looks like we could use some help."

"I'm sorry but I'm a rogue demon hunter." Wesley said as he stood to his feet. "So I must go where I'm needed."

"Do you even know where you're headed?" King asked.

"Us rogue demon hunters rarely do." Wesley replied as he put on his jacket. "Wherever evil lurks, wherever the forces of darkness threaten humanity, that's where I'll be."

"Alright then. Keep in touch." Faith said as she and the others started to dig into the pizza.

"Yes. Yes, I will." he said as he picked up his bag. "But now the evil lurking everywhere bids me onwards." he said looking back at them eating. "So - I go."

"T...take care." Tara said as she turned around.

"Yes." Wesley replied as he slowly dissappeared around the corner to go up the steps. But after a moment strolled back into the room. "No rest for the wicked fighters. Through storm and rain - heat - famine..." he stopped as he again looked at the food. "deep, painful, gnawing hunger - I go."

"You hungry or not?" Faith asked annoyed as she sat down at the table.

"Ooh..." Wes replied eagerly as he quickly put down his bag and took off his jacket, hurrying over to the table. "I suppose so."

"Faith orders a mean takeout after every mission." King joked as he poured himself some soda.

"Haha." Faith laughed dryly as she kicked his leg under the table.

Feeling a pair of eyes on himself, King looked over and saw Tara staring at him before quickly looking away. Taking a piece of paper out of his shirt pocket, he slid it across the table towards her. Staring down at it curiously, she picked it up and read the four simple words.

'Are we still friends?' holding the letter next to her heart, she took his hand in her's and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"That's a rather attractive necklace." Wesley said to Faith as he stared at the doubloon.

"Is that the only thing you're looking at?" she asked as she made a show of bouncing up her breasts.

After a moment of gawking and Faith laughing, Wesley finally composed himself.

"I'm serious. I've seen that necklace before and it's just something about it that seems vaguely familiar."

"Well it is real old."

"It's more then that." he cut her off. "Is it anyway possible for me to borrow it for a while? I have a friend that might be able to tell me what it is."

"Alright." Faith said taking it off. "But if anything happens to it, I'm so kicking your ass."

"Believe me it's in good hands." he said as his cellphone started to ring. "Excuse me." he said as he took it out of his shirt pocket and walked out into the hallway. "Hello. Yes Mr. Travers, I've infiltrated the vampires lair. I'll give you a full report as soon as possible."

Hanging up the phone, he peeked out at Faith, King, and Tara wondering if he was doing the right thing or not.


	9. Chapter 8 Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

A/N This chapter will lead over to a Pirate's of the carribbean crossover, but it takes place six months after Pirates of the Carribean World's End. The third pirates movie. Also I know this should've taken place earlier in time, but I'm placing the Pirates movie in the year 1692.

Also thanks for the great reviews and I hope you like this chapter.

Chapter 8

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Somewhere Over The Arctic

1692

In the blackness of the night came the distant flute-like sounds of the wind. Overall the effect seemed mournful and haunting, elegant and serene just as one could see a storm of inconceivable force and violence. Merciless arctic winds whipped the sea in a frenzy of thirty-foot swells.

This was the last place in God's creation that any human being should be, and yet the prow of a three-masted ship rose massively, looming from the darkness and chaos. It crashed upward through a swell and slammed back down again, plunging nose- first into the trough. The sails on the forward mast were still deployed and was insane; in this weather that they should be stowed, as was already the case with masts 2 and 3.

And as she swept past within a seeming hairbreadth, into a patch of sunlight one could see that it was named the "Alexander Nevsky." And upon her were men all around the deck, screaming figures glimpsed and half-glimpsed, heavy oilskin clothes flapping in the gale, in a life- or-death tug of war.

"PULL, YOU BASTARDS!" Walton the captain of the ship yelled over the violent winds. "PULL!" Riiiiippp! Upon hearing that noise all eyes turned skyward as the uppermost sail tore loose, the heavy canvas shredding away in huge billowing tatters.

The jib-arm then wrenched free and plummeted toward the floor of the ship, trailing rope and fabric. Seeing it, the men dove aside as the jib smashed into the deck like an exploding bomb. Splintered shards of wood cartwheeled through the air like shrapnel.

Not moving fast enough, Walton caught a glancing blow to the head and slammed face- down on the pitching deck. Theodore, the first mate, scrambled to his aid, but he shoved him off, pushing painfully to his knees. Lightning then threw his face into a stark relief and it was map of pain and fury: blood streaming from his hairline, freezing in his eyes, staining his teeth. He gazed up at the mainsail, still intact and straining against the wind, he heard a huge crack and saw that the base of the mast was starting to give.

"Cut the damn rigging free before we lose the mast!" Walton yelled to his men. Long-handled axes were then grabbed from their mounts as frantic men began hacking at the ropes. Walton snatched an axe himself, from a passing crewman and elbowed his way to the front. He attacked a guy-rope with primal fury, arms rising and falling with the motion of his axe. Suddenly, he heard a chilling cry from high above:

"IIIICEBEEEEERG!" the lookout yelled from the crows nest. Looking up one could see that the lookout was lashed to the mast by means of a safety rope knotted at the chest.

As he pointed ahead, Walton and the others spun to look as the sea revealed a magnificent vista of storming fury. The ship was heading into an enormous field of icebergs dotting the ocean like boulders in a quarry, The Nevsky was plying these waters like a man running pell-mell through a mine field. An iceberg passed massively and unexpectedly in the foreground, rumbling within yards of the ship, wiping it into darkness.

And wiping from darkness, as a flapping piece of canvas billowed away it revealed 'Walton and the crew, gazing in breathless horror as an iceberg loomed from the gale before them like a ghostly white mountain.

Finally after a few moments Walton found his voice: "HARD TO PORT!"

Hearing the captains yell, the pilot fought to turn the wheel. Men rushed to his aid, throwing their backs into it, straining to the limit. The wheel was grudging, fighting them every inch of the way.

"It's going to ram us." Theodore said frieghtfully to his captain.

"It wouldn't dare." Walton replied, under his breath.

Meanwhile in the crows nest, the lookout fumbled under his coat, grabbed the rosary around his neck, and clutched the crucifix tightly in both hands. His face was white with terror and his breath came in ragged gasps.

As the ship continued to crash through the swells, rising and falling, tilting the world as the iceberg loomed closer, for a brief moment it seemed to be veering past. But then it swing back in a final, churning, vertiginous plunge... ... and smacked the ice. It was as if God himself just hit the ship with an anvil. Mast #1 snapped at the base with a thunderous crack and began to topple in a symphony of shattering wood and tangled rigging ... The lookout on mast #2 was vaulted through the railing of the crow's nest, screaming through the air, arms and legs windmilling as he plummeted head-first toward the deck below ... and was jerked to an abrupt stop by the safety line around his chest.

Even still the crew heard another horrible crack ... the sound of his back breaking even as they were sliding, tumbling, and screaming. Mast #1 completed its fall, slamming massively to the deck,. shattering a section of the gunwale to splinters. Utter panic. Total chaos. . Sheer mortal terror. And as the scene played out to a final brain-splitting crescendo of sound and fury, it totally went to, stunning silence.

A glittering wasteland of ice. Breathlessly cold. Even the sun seemed frozen, barely hanging on the horizon. Pellets of snow scoured the permafrost like broken glass, driven by a desolate arctic wind. It's was if Hell had erupted through the floor of the Earth in the form of ice. Nothing could survive here. Nothing.

But yet the flap of frozen canvas of the Nevsky creaked in the wind ... the pilot's wheel was now a crystalline sculpture of ice. The forward mast layed across the deck like a broken limb, extending out over the ice on a tangle of rigging. The ship's prow was smashed open above the water line, a familiar rosary laying broken on the deck. Beads scattered. A tiny Christ figure lay with arms thrown wide, painted eyes staring up at the sky through a thin sheet of ice ...

From the top of mast #2, a breathtaking perspective of the entire ship below, guaranteed to induce vertigo. The corpse of the lookout was suspended below at the end of the frozen rope, his posture mimicing the Christ figure: His arms thrown wide, dead eyes staring up at the sky through a thin sheet of ice. A ghastly still-life, the corpse twisting ever-so-slightly on the wind, rope creaking .A sailor was thrusted into the forefront swaying precariously in the rigging, just as two more men reached out with long gaffing poles to snag the corpse.

Walton watched them reel the body in, even as he turned, to the rest of the crew working desperately to free the ship. Axes and picks rose and fell in waves, slamming into the ice, throwing up frozen chips. The men were near collapsing, exhaustion carved in their faces. The dogs were nearby, huskies and malamutes huddled in the snow. Walton rejoined the men, ramming his axe fiercely into the ice.

"Put your backs into it!" he yelled out to them.

"What's the use?" one of his men asked. "This godless ice stretches for miles! Would you have us chop our way back to England?"

"No. But we'll chop our way to the North Pole if we have to. Inch by bloody inch." Walton replied with a sneer.

"You can't mean to go on!" his first mate complained. "Our journey is ended! The best we can hope for now is to get out of this alive!"

"Aye, if the ice ever lets us!" came another voice from a sailor.

"The ice will break. And when it does, we proceed north ... as planned." the captain said as cries of dismay came from the men. To make a point his first mate thrusted his arm toward the sky, pointing at the corpse on the mast.

"At the cost of how many more lives?" he asked onlt to be interrupted by a long, chilling howl.

The lead husky dog rose to its feet, hackles up, howling at some unseen thing in the distance. As if on cue the other dogs started rising around him, joining in, staring off across the ice.

"There's something out there." Theodore said as the dogs started going berserk. The lead husky then broke free and launched himself across the ice. The men scrambled to restrain the animals, but three more broke away and took off after their leader, just as Walton snatched up his rifle.

"You five come with me!" he said pointing at some of his men. "The rest stay with the ship!"

The dogs ran howling across the ice as the men trailed substantially behind. If they had've been paying attention they would have seen down by the icy boulders as a massive hand came briefly to rest in one of the crags, with huge blue gray hands and white furry arms. As it stood up it's huge dark figure wiped into the light, fleeing into the rocks. The dogs then came bounding past where it was in pursuit, snarling and slavering. The running men then heard an inhuman howl rise amidst those of the dogs. A vicious free-for-all echoed from the rocks and the barking gave way to shrill squeals.

An object was suddenly launched from the crags, catapulted through the air in a high arc. Some men slippled and fell as the object slammed to the ground with tremendous impact before them and they found themselves staring in horror at the sight of the lead dog. There was complete silence now as those who had fallen, rose. Walton cocked his rifle as the group proceeded, picks and axes held ready, slowly skirting the rocks as the massacre was revealed. Blood-stained ice. Dead, mangled animals strewn about. One twitching survivor crawled toward them on broken limbs, whining piteously, dragging its entrails in a red smear.

"Look." Theodore said, making them follow his gaze.

Bloody tracks led away from the bodies, ascending the rocks. Most were smeared and vague, but one was clearly a bare inhuman footprint. Several men crossed themselves and Walton shouldered the rifle and aimed down at the surviving dog. BLAM! A single bullet to the brain ended its misery, punching a halo of blood onto the ice. The shot echoed for miles.

"Back to the ship." Walton ordered his men.

* * *

Silhouetted against the aurora borealis, the horizon swirled mysteriously with color and light. Distant slivers of lightning kissed the earth. Men kept watch in furtive groups, huddled against the cold, breath punching the air with billows of vapor. A massive crackling was heard, causing a young sailor to spin around, jumpy.

"Only the ice to starboard, boy." an older sailor told him as he touched his shoulder.

"Is it breaking up?"

"Just dancing on the current." the old man replied. "It'll freeze even tighter come next wind."

"It was a polar bear. That's what I say."

"Say all you want, but you weren't there. It left inhuman tracks, but it wasn't a bear." a man from the captains group said as they got back to the ship.

"We've roused a demon from the ice." another one said as they heard a CLANG-CLANG! noise. The men spun to see a sailor on starboard ringing the signal bell. The men raced over, crowding the gunwale.

"There's something in the mist." the man warned as Walton appeared from his cabin and crowded his way to the front, rifle aimed at the sky. The men waited, holding their breath and scanning the darkness. An apparition loomed eerily from the mist on a creaking floe of ice, silhouetted by the shifting light of the borealis. The figure's pose was uncanny and weird: not entirely human nor beast, but something in between, arms dangling at its sides and lolling slowly with the motion of the current.

"It's the demon!" the young sailor shouted. "Shoot while you've a chance!" as he said that, the Pilot lit the kerosene wick of a reflector box spotlight and swung it around.

The beam sought out the specter and pinned it in a dim circle of light ... revealing a large baboon type demon or better yet an ice elemental yeti monster, with huge overgrown arms, white fur and a blue face, abdomin and stomach.

"Jesus!" the captain yelled, his rifle trembling in his hands.

"Will not help you now." the monster said in an uncanny human tongue. "I am 50-Below and all of your lives will end now."

"I don't think so, beast." came a voice from the shadows. Looking up they saw a figure with a dark cloak, standing mystically on the side of the ship, his cloak billowing behind him.

"Not you!" 50 yelled into the night. "You will not imprison me again!" he yelled as he slammed one of his enormous fists into the ground and created a jagged stream of ice that threatened to destroy the ship.

Jumping onto the ice the cloaked figure took out a golden doubloon with a spanish cross on it and held it out in front of himself.

"Doucne bumpis toben..." as he started his spell golden light shone out of the coin and stopped the jagged stream of ice before his feet.

"Noooo!" the beast yelled as he ran forward and punched at the man. Hitting the coin instead, the spell reached it crescendo and in a blindingly flash of light 50-Below was sucked into the coin itself. And with trembling hands, said coin nearly slipped out of the cloaked man's hand as he fell to his knees.

"Are you alright, preacher?" the captain asked as the man pulled back his hood, revealing himself to be an elderly man in his mid- sixties, with graying hair and bloodstrained eyes.

"Yes..." he replied as he fell in the captains arms. "and no. I've finally completed my lifes mission so now I can rest. That monster 50-Below will never see the light of day again."

"You're just tired now sir. I'll get you back to..."

"I'm dying now, Walton and you must take this." he said putting the coin into his hands. "You must never let anyone with an evil heart possess it and you must never let it fall into a large body of water or the beast will come again."

"But sir..."

"Just leave me be boy." the preacher told him as the others watched. "Just leave me here so I can finally rest."

Doing as he wished, he slowly put his head down to the ice and watched as he closed his eyes and took his final breath.

"What will we do now, sir?" Theodore asked as he put his hand down on the captains shoulder.

"We go back to England." he replied as he put the coin up to the light. "And make sure this damnable thing never sees the light of day again."

Boston

Present Day

"I can't believe that w...we only found out a little about this at the library but your friend was able to find out almost everything." Tara commented over to Wesley as they walked out of an old warehouse building by the docks, at night.

"Yes, he was very informative. Now I know that we must find someway to rid ourselves of this thing." he said as he held up the doubloon.

"And, I know just how to do it." a voice said from the shadows. Looking up they saw a man wearing all black stepping out of the shadows. Attempting to back away, Tara and Wesley bumped into someone else.

"Give us all of your money and any valuables." the other man said as he pulled out a gun.

"Including this nice little necklace." the first mugger said as he yanked it out of Wesley's hand. "Hey Mike, I think this is a doubloon. How much you think we could get for it?"

Without warning Tara grabbed the thug with the gun by the wrist, twisted, and flipped him to the ground. Seeing his friend go down and unconcious on the ground, the first one ran out of the alley. Knowing what would happen in the wrong hands Wesley took off in hot pursuit.

Running out of the alley, he spotted the thug running towards the docks. Taking off like a shot, Wes was able to football tackle him from behind, but as luck would have it he let go of the coin and it rolled into the water. Closing his eyes in frustration, he missed as a shaft of filtered moonlight hit the coin causing it to emit a mysterious pulse through the water.

* * *

On a street there was a flash of light and 50-Below suddenly appeared in the middle of the road. Growling savagely, he looked around his new environment with his hard red eyes.

"Where am I? What is this place?" he asked himself.

The breaks of a pickup truck screamed, but, unable to stop, the truck ran over 50, then collided with an oncoming car. The driver of the truck sat behind the wheel in shock, when his vehicle was suddenly overturned by 50 getting up underneath it.

"Oh my God!" the driver screamed as his truck fell over.

Faith's Apartment

Thirty Minutes Later

"So you mean to tell me that the coin necklace I had for all those years was evil?" Faith asked after Wesley and Tara explained what happened.

"No, it wasn't evil. What was inside of it was." Wes said dripping wet as he went through his collection of books, with the coin in hand. After the police had arrived to carry the thugs to jail, he had jumped in the water and retrived the coin. "The coin was merely imbued with the power to imprison the beast known as 50-Below." he said as he found the page he was looking for and handed her the book.

"Hmmm, he's a looker." Faith commented as she saw the depiction of the monster, before she handed the book over to King.

"He's an ice elemental demon, capable of manipulating water, the weather, and ice itself." Wesley went on. "In the year 1640 it made the mistake of killing off an entire family of sorcerers and witches. What it didn't know was that it left one family member alive, a little boy that grew up and dedicated the rest of his existance to stopping the beast. He had no way of knowing how to kill it, so he constructed an imprisonment for it. He finally tracked the beast down to the North pole where at the expense of his life, he was able to imprison the demon."

"What I want to know is, is if this thing was so important then how did Faith's family get ahold of it?" King asked.

"I don't know, but as reports would have it a pirate by the name of Captain Jack Sparrow came into possession of it. After that who knows."

"What about this monster?" Faith asked as she sat down on the couch next to the Watcher. "I thought you said that if the coin was exposed to a large body of water that he would come around again?"

"That's what the books said. But me nor Tara..."

"Guys." Tara called out, interrupting him. Turning around they all followed her gaze to the TV.

"In further news a mysterious storm has blown into Boston, blanketing nearly the whole city in arctic winds and snow." the news anchor said as she turned to her partner. "Our experts say that the storm came out of nowhere and that it's supposed to be impossible, but yet here it is. What are your thoughts on this Tom?"

"All I can say is that this is very wierd, Diane." Tom replied as he put a finger to his ear. "This just in, we have a report that in downtown Boston monster overturned a truck..."

"That's all I needed to hear." Faith said after cutting off the tv. "Suit up guys, we're gonna take down a beast."

"But if the old priest couldn't kill it, then what makes you think that we can?" Wesley asked as he put on his jacket.

"Because we got something that he never had." Faith replied as she picked up his twelve gauge shotgun and threw it to him. "Better weapons. Now come on."

Downtown Boston

An Hour Later

Getting out of King's truck, Faith saw the driver, of the turned over pickup, sitting hunched up on the curb of the street.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she walked over to him.

"I tried to stop it. It's all my fault."

"Hey." she said to the visibly shaken man as she crouched down next to him. "What's your name?"

"Uhm, John...John Weathers. God, this isn't even my truck."

"Hey, Johnno, you wanna tell me what happened here?"

"Ah, I hit... Oh god. I-I hit a thing, a monster." he said as he turned to look at her. "I know you don't believe me..."

"This thing you hit, where is it?"

"I don't know." John said a little taken aback that she believed him. "There - there's no way it should've gotten up though." he then looked over at where paramedics were working on a guy on a stretcher. "God, those poor people."

"You didn't do anything wrong." Faith reassured him.

"It's all my fault."

"No. - No, it isn't." she said to him after a beat.

With that said she stood up and walked over to look at the underside of the overturned pickup. She reached to touch the front bumper then examined her fingers.

"How strong do you think this thing is, Wes?" Faith asked as she walked back over to the truck.

Before he could answer explosions suddenly rang out around them causing the gang to roll and dodge on the ground for cover. As they got to their knees they looked up to see 50-Below with one of his arms outstreched.

"I sensed a great power here." he said as he lowered his arm. "But I see now that I was mistaken. I'm in the presense of nothing more then children."

"Children this!" Faith yelled as she ran forward.

"Faith!" King yelled after her. 'Damn that girl is gonna get us all killed one day.'

Getting closer to her enemy, Faith watched as his eyes started to glow red. In mere seconds over a dozen white monkey demons materialized around her and blocked her path. Not slowing down or losing stride she spun forward and slammed a spinning heel kick across the head of one of the bipeds, while cutting another few down with the blade of her broad sword. Hearing King and Wesley behind her she moved past the survivors of her onslaught.

Swinging her sword the demon ducked down and knocked her back a bit. Making a scythe materialize in his hand the creature chopped its blade towards her head, but using her demonic reflexes she sidestepped while blocking the blow, and side kicked the creature in the chest. Not fazed the demon slammed a backfist across her face, the force of which made her smash backward and go tumbling across the ground.

With a growl Faith dropped her sword and rose to her feet and ran forward into a series of kicks and punches. With a smile on his blue lips, 50-Below blocked her high roundkick, low roundkick, and punch combination. Pressing her attack she swung a spinning heel kick that he ducked under, before he slammed a huge fist against her chest, that made her ribs crack as she stumbled backward.

"Fuck." Faith said to herself as she held her side, even as a small trickle of blood fell from her mouth.

"Come now little one." 50 beckoned her forward. "Those were merely love taps."

Vamping out she ran forward and slammed a kick against a demon henchman and spun around with a right sidekick that smashed 50 across the forehead. Taking advantage of the villians distraction she roundhouse kicked his scythe out of his hand.

Still not totally fazed he punched her in the gut, knocking her back down to the ground. As she rose to her knees, 50-Below kicked her in the stomach, making her body flip backward and crash back on the ground.

Trying to get up Faith coughed and hacked up tons of blood as she rolled onto her stomach. Most of her ribs were broken at that point and her muscles ached as she dropped out of her vampiric guise.

"I must admit that, that was one of the most exhilirating fights I've had in a long time." the villian commented as he approached her. "But as you know good things must come to an..." he stopped talking as he looked next to her and saw a red and clear crystal that she had stolen from the demon witch Bodecia, had fallen out of her leather duster. "One of the lost gems of Illyria." he said picking it up with a smile.

"Faith!" King yelled out as he and Wes ran to her side.

"I owe you a debt of gratitude." the demon said as he threw the gem high into the air before catching it. "Now I can unleash my fallen bretheren." holding the gem high into the air, before the gang could do anything he mumbled a few choice words and dissappeared in a flash of light, the gem falling back down to the ground.

Faith's Apartment

An Hour Later

"Thanks." Faith said as Tara finished bandaging her ribs up.With a wince she put her shirt back on and looked at the others. "Hopefully I'll be mostly healed by the morning. Now all I want to know is where did that son of a bitch go?"

"He's gone back in time so he can try to ressurrect the other three Barbarian Beasts. That's why he had the sorcerers family killed. It was because they imprisoned them all." Wesley said as he walked back into the room, looking deathly pale because of the news he had heard. "I called one of my few contacts from the Council and I told them of 50-Below."

"And?" King pressed for more information.

"And the reason why Faith couldn't beat him is because he was one of the last lines of defense for the old ones. When the last of the original demons were driven into other dimensions or died, they put the last of their powers together and made the four Barbarian Beasts. They killed hundreds of humans to try to retake over the surface world, but a sorcerer came forth with the power to banish them, but he needed the help of the first Slayer. The plan was for the Slayer to destract them for awhile, while the sorcerer finished the spell but she was soon killed after only a few moments of fighting. Luckily still he was able to work the spell and banished them from our plane of existence."

"So how did 50-Below get back?" Tara asked engrossed in the story.

"Well the sorcerer, at the time, could only transfer them into four seperate crystals, of which were passed down from generation to generation and later on they spread them all over the world. He only had enough strength to bind three crystals, so he chose the most powerful beasts to be held. So someone has to collect all three crystals and perform a spell in order to unleash them. However, in 1640 a rival of the family stole one of the crystals and unleashed 50-Below into the world. It took him nearly fifty years to gather two crystals when the old priest found him and imprisoned him in the coin he had constructed."

"So where is that demon now?" Faith asked with a wince as she stood to her feet and handed him her gem. "And what the hell is this thing?"

"As the demon said, this is the lost gem of Illyria. It was a powerful old one with the power over time. And as I said earlier he went back in time."

"What part of time?" King asked as he took the gem and looked at it.

"I believe he's gone back to the year 1692, because that's the time period where he had gathered two of the three crystals. To go through all of that searching he did all over again would be unfruitful so I believe he'd go back to that time so he'd only have to search for one more."

"Why not just go back to when the crystal was first formed?" King asked as he handed the gem back to him.

"Because even though powerful, the gem doesn't have enough energy to go back that far."

"S...so what do we do now?" Tara asked, getting everyone's attention. "We can't go back in time to stop him...can we?"

"Is that possible, Wes?" Faith asked.

"Yes, but we'll have to expand the spell out a bit so the crystal can send us all back. It shouldn't take more then a day." Wes replied thinking. "Tara do you mind helping me with some research and some spells?"

"Sure." she said as they walked off into another room.

"So are we really gonna do this?" King asked as he walked over to Faith.

"Looks like bro." she replied. "Now get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow."

The Next Day

Tara straightened up from painting a circle and pentagram on the floor of the Faith in the King's Investigations lobby.

"Are you two sure this is going to work?" Faith asked as she looked over at Tara and Wesley.

"For the last time Faith, yes." Wesley said frustrated as he placed the gem of Illyria in the middle of the pentagram. "Now where's King, we have to leave shortly."

"I'm right behind you english." King said as he bounded into the room carrying some clothes and ancient looking weapons like cutlasses and old pistols. "If we're gonna go back in time we gotta dress the part." he said showing them the costumes.

"What a marvelous idea." Wes said excepting his clothes.

"Yeah." Faith said with a roll of her eyes as she took the dress, before giving Wes a look. "Hey bro are you sure you wanna come with us?" she asked nervously. "You sure you don't wanna hold down the fort while we're gone?"

"Are you kidding, I've been waiting for an oppurtunity like this my whole life." he said giving her a closer look. "Now what the hell is going on? Why don't you want me to go?"

"She's afraid that you'll get hurt." Wesley spoke up. "Slavery was taken place heavily in the region where we're going and she didn't want you to go through that."

"I've been going through it my whole life sis." King said with a smile as he kissed her on the forehead. "I'll be fine."

With that said, they quickly got ready in their costumes and met back in the lobby.

"Woo looking good, Wes." Faith said as she saw him in his tricorne hat and pirate looking garb.

"Thank you." he said as he stared down at her dress that revealed alot of cleavage. "You're looking ravishing yourself."

"Hey what about me?" King asked.

"You're looking good too, bro." Faith said as she gave him a look. "But why are you wearing an eyepatch?"

"I think it makes me look dangerous and cool." King said as he started to eye Tara in her pretty dress. As if reading his thoughts she blushed and looked down to the floor.

"Alright, now let's get started shall we." Wesley said as he walked back to the circle and picked up a book. "Now what's the last ingredient?"

"Blood." Tara said as she walked up next to him.

With that said Faith picked up a knife and walked over to stand in front of the circle. Never taking her eyes off it she slowly sliced the knife across the palm of her left hand, then went to dribble some of her blood into the middle of the pentagram.

"I just thought of something." Faith said as Wes turned out the lights and started to read from the book. "What are we gonna do for money?"

"I already got us covered on that." he said handing her a small bag of forty or so silver and gold blank coins. "I have a friend that had a lot of blank coin slugs. He owed me a favor."

"But what about it being broad daylight? As soon as I go back I'll..."

"And I have that c...covered." Tara said as she handed her a golden wedding band looking ring, with strange symbols and a green gem in it. "I was looking through Wesley's books a c...couple of weeks ago a...and I saw an old legend about a ring called the gem of amara. It's a ring that gives a vampire the power to walk in daylight."

"Cool so you found it?" Faith asked as she put it on and put her hand out towards the window, marvelling as her hand didn't burn.

"N...no, I made a copy." 'With part of the ingredient being my own blood.' she thought to herself. "B...but it's power will only last for three days, but if you take it off at night you can span it out into six."

"Cool. You're getting good at this witch thing." Faith said as she threw her arm around the slightly older girl, making her smile widely at that.

"It's time. I've made the spell so it'll take us directly where and when 50-Below was dropped off." Wesley said as a blue light began to swirl around the painted circle, then congealed into a vaguely thin portal. "Here goes nothing." Wes said as he picked up the gem of Illyria and jumped through the portal. Holding each others hand Tara and Faith were next.

"Why do I feel like this is gonna be one hell of an adventure." King said with a shake of his head as the portal closed behind him.

TBC...


	10. Chapter 9 A Pirates Life For Me

A/N Thanks again for the great review Faith-rulz and I'm glad you like the new nemesis 50-Below, but be prepared for Vergil and Michelle to come back in later chapters. It's gonna be a wild one. And I'm going to upload two chapters at once again. Also to anybody that's interested I have a beautiful Faith wallpaper, so if you want it review with your email address and I'll send it to you.

Chapter 9

A Pirates Life For Me

Port Royal, Jamaica

June 5, 1692

Beneath a blue sky layed the bucolic town of Port Royal, built on a natural harbor. On a bluff at the mouth of the harbor stood Fort Charles, its stone parapets lined with cannons.

The skeletal remains of four pirates, still clad in buccaneer rags, hung from gallows erected on a rocky promontory. There was a fifth, unoccupied gallow, bearing a sign: Pirates - Ye Bewarned.

The top of a billowing sail passed regally in front of them. On the landward face of the sail, apparently high in the rigging, was a man for whom the term 'swashbuckling rogue' was coined: Captain Jack Sparrow. He gazed keen-eyed at the display as they passed, raising a tankard in salute. Suddenly, something below caught his attention.

He jumped from the rigging and instead of an imposing three-master, he was just on a small fishing dory with a single sail, plowing through the water. And what was worse was that it was leaking, which was why he had the tankard: to bail out the water. Seeing that he was where he needed to be, he stepped back to the tiller, and using a single sheet to control the sail, the boat came around the promontory, the whole of Port Royal laid out before him.

Suddenly the sky turned black and the British flag flew wildly, blown from an offshore breeze. Just then the wind died, and the flag went limp, causing Jack to look up startled. On the docks, wood and metal fittings on lines banged against masts. The wind died out again and there was silence. On the edge of town a caribe woman fed clucking chickens and frowned when they all suddenly went quiet. In the villiage a weather vane moved slightly in the wind and just as suddenly stopped, and all was still.

And then... ...the weather vane turned, and held steady the wind had picked up again, but now blew from the sea toward the land. On the beach an old salt pulled a rope line, paused, turned and gazed to the sky, frowning, just as the mangy hound at his side started to bark incessantly. On the docks the lines banged against the other sides of the masts, the wind far stronger now.

"Bugger." Jack said as he looked around to the darkening skies that started to rain snow flakes and hail.

"Jack." he heard a familiar voice call his name. Looking up he saw Will Turner looking down at him, frowning.

"Yes, young William." Jack said with a sly smile as he got out of the boat and onto the dock as it sank to the bottom of the water. "It's me." looking at the younger man closer, Jack saw something else in his eyes. A deep sadness. "What's the matter with you?"

"It's Elizabeth." Will said as a tear rolled down his cheek. "She's dying."

Flashback

A Day Before

Heavily panting Elizabeth Swann, now Elizabeth Turner rolled off of Will and layed at his side on the bed. After saving Jack's life from purgatory and possibly going to hell, they had a long talk with one another about the kiss she and Jack had shared and they finally decided to get married.

"So how was my performance, Mrs. Turner?" Will asked with a smile as he looked down at his wife.

"Wonderful, Mr. Turner." she replied as she rested her head against his chest.

"So have you thought of my proposal?" he asked as he kissed her on the forehead.

"Will, I'm not going to have anymore then two children." she complained as she sat up and put on one of his shirts.

"Come now, Elizabeth." he replied as hesat up in a crouch on the bed. "You know that I want lots of children."

"Yes, but they're not coming out of your body, Will."

"But..." before he could whine they both heard a loud explosion and people screaming in the distance.

"What on earth?" she asked as she stood from bed and looked out into the night. Looking down she saw a group of soldiers with torches and rifles, gathering together and running off down the street.

"What is it?" Will asked as he ran up to her side and peered out into the night.

"I don't know." she told him as she flew back to the bed and started to put on a pair of his pants. "But, I'm going to find out."

* * *

The moon was obscured by smoke rising from the burning gallows and wooden roofs, just as gun fire continued to rain down. Streets, buildings, docks and ships shattered and exploded beneath the onslaught of an unseen force. Villagers panicked, ran for cover, dodging flying debris as best they could. If this was not hell on earth, then it was about to be.

"Soldier what's going on?" Will asked as he grabbed a soldier by the shoulder as he passed.

"Reports are coming in, sir of a monster attacking the village." the young soldier replied as he frightfully shook off William's hand and ran to where his comrades were going. At the mention of the word monster, he and Elizabeth gave each other a look.

As if on cue they saw the shadows of people striking down villagers indiscriminately and setting fires further down the street. Amid the thunder of rifle fire a white monkey demon suddenly jumped out from the shadows, slashing at Will with a sword. Taking out his cutlass Will was about to defend himself, until he noticed what he was about to fight and that the monkey had one arm and wore a yellow bandana. Will's hesitation was just enough for another demon to come by and swing a flaming sword, that was blocked by Elizabeth.

"Stay away from my husband!" she yelled as they were surrounded by more of the devilish ghouls. Going back to back with her lover the two thrusted and parried off their opponents.

Cutting off the arm of one of her attackers, it's sword flew up into the air and she caught it. Swinging them both around her body, she smiled as more came her way. Using a trick she had done a few months ago, Elizabeth ran forward and used the two swords together, one in each hand, to stab backwards and kill two attacking demons.

As the last of them fell to the ground redead, they were about to breathe easily until they saw a magistic figure strolling out of the foggy night.

"My, God." Will said as 50-Below came into view.

"Not quite." the beast said as he raised up an arm and shot out a long rod of ice. Pushing her husband out of the way Elizabeth took the iced projectile to the gut, immediately knocking her off her feet.

"Elizabeth!" Will shouted as he caught her, inches from falling face first to the ground.

Before 50-Below could continue his assault a cannon ball hit him square in the stomach, knocking him high into the air and sending him crashing through a building.

End Flashback

"Sounds like you ran through a spot of bad luck with that beastie mate." Jack said as they walked down the dock. "Is it dead?"

"No, but I think they wounded it."

"So where is your pirate...ummm what's her name and why are you not wit' her?"

"Elizabeth is at our home and I'm here waiting on the doctor." Will replied as he grabbed Jack by the arm as he kept walking. "And what are you doing here? The last I saw you, you had a new ship and were heading away from here."

"I got word that something valuable was here for me to take." Jack replied in a drunken slur. "And I won't leave until I possess it."

"Do you even know what it is?" Will asked with an amused smile.

"No..., but I'll know what it is when I find it."

The Beach

The wind howled and the sky turned dark as a thin portal opened. With a scream Wesley, Faith, Tara, and King fell out of it in a mass of arms and legs on the ground.

"That was a hell of a ride." King said as he sat up and looked around, hearing seaguls in the distance.

"Yeah, it would've been better if somebody wasn't screaming like a girl in my ear." Faith said as Wesley gave her an apologetic look.

"Sorry." he said helping Tara to her feet. "If my calculations are correct we should be in Port Royal, Jamaica June 5th 1692. Now all we have to do is find and destroy 50-Below. Faith can you sense him?"

"No." she replied as she looked off into the distance. "But I can smell gunpowder and lots of blood."

"50-Below has a full day ahead of us." Wesley said to the group as they started to walk along the shore of the beach. "So we must hurry."

"Halt." they heard a voice shout from behind them. "All of you stay where you are."

As the gang turned around, hands raised, they saw three british soldiers running towards their position.

"What offense have we made?" Wesley asked as they finally got to them.

"Identify yourselves." the captain said looking at all of them in turn. "All of you."

"I...I am Wesley Wyndam Pryce and...and this is my beautiful wife, Faith." Wes said as he turned to her, giving her a look. "And this is my little sister Tara and our...servant Malik."

"And what is your business in, Port Royal?" the captain asked as one of his men, passed out, Faith catching him before he hit the ground.

"What happened to him?" Wesley asked as he leaned down and started to examine the man.

Seeing blood coming from under his jacket, Wes quickly removed it and saw his poorly bandaged ribs and blood coming from underneath it. Before he could comment on it, Tara handed him a medical kit she had brought, over his shoulder. Taking it the two set about their work.

"Are you some kind of doctor?" the other soldier asked as he looked over Wesley's shoulder and grimaced as he saw the blood.

"I've had some training." Wes replied honestly. It was standard protocal for any Watcher to be trained in advanced medical care, because of their Slayer's. "Now what happened to this man?"

"We were attacked by a monster sir."

"Williams!" the captain bellowed, instantly snapping his man to attention. "Stay in your place."

"But it's true sir." Williams went on. "You know that you saw that beast yerself."

"Did this thing look like a monkey with white fur?" Faith asked.

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Because we...we were sent here to stop it."

"By who's order?"

"Captain, I beg your forgiveness but what does it matter? If they can get rid of this foul beast then I say let them."

"Whatever you decide do it now." Wes spoke up again. "I think I can save this man, but I need to be in a better location."

"Gather your things doctor." the captain said after a moment of seething. "Your services will be needed."

"You guys go on ahead." Faith said as she sensed something coming from the opposite side of the beach. "I'll catch up with you later."

"Are you going to let your wife do whatever she wants?" the captain whispered into Wesley's ear.

"Believe me, I don't have a choice." Wes whispered back as he and Williams lifted up the other soldier. "Alright but take Ki...Malik with you. Just do a little recon and if you find anything meet us back at the village and we'll go out together."

"You're the boss." Faith said as King gave Wesley some coins out of his bag. Giving each other a nod, they went off in their seperate directions.

* * *

"So what is it that you're sensing?" King asked as Faith took the lead as they walked down the beach together.

"Hopefully 50-Below." she grumbled.

"I thought you said you couldn't sense his presense?"

"That's because I'm trying harder now. And whatever it is that I'm sensing is weak and if it's him, I'm gonna try to take him out now."

"What if we can't?" King asked as they stopped walking.

"Then we go with, Wesley's plan. What?" she asked as a certain look crossed his features.

"It's nothing." 'Besides me not trusting him.' he thought to himself.

Not wanting to press the issue, Faith turned around and saw a cave hole a few feet ahead of them. Reaching out with her demonic powers she sensed a familiar power coming from it. Steeling herself, both of them walked towards the entrance of the cave and heard 50-Below's booming voice.

"All I need do now is commandeer a ship. The last and final crystal is in the Point of Lost Souls."

"The Point of..."

"Forget about that...let's just rush him." Faith said as they stood up from behind a huge boulder. Handing her, her cutlass and hefting up his axe, the two rushed into the cavern and stared face to face with nothing but the darkness of the cave.

"What the..."

"What the is right." a voice said behind them. As they looked back the way they came they saw 50-Below suddenly standing there. "Did you really think I couldn't sense your power little one? I might be slightly weaker..." he said as he put a large hand down to his side that looked bruised. "but not to worry. I can still defeat you."

"Looks like round two then." Faith replied as she vamped out.

She then stepped forward ready to slash him with her sword, but he swung his arm and knocked it out of her hands. She quickly struck out with a front kick, that did little damage and blocked his arm when he swung it at her again. King rushed in to attack but Faith was still between him and not seeing his actions was shoved back hard, by the monster.

As King fell to the ground, Faith hit 50 in the face with a hard backhand. Hardly feeling it, he grabbed her by the neck threw her across the cave, making her slam into the rock wall and drop to the ground. Seeing her go down he turned his attention to King and he smiled creully.

Quickly coming to her senses, Faith jumped in between the two and glared. Going into a kick and punch combo, he swatted her away like a fly. Putting his hand down to his side, he charged up blue specks of energy in the palm of his hand and threw it at her.

The charge hit her full force and sent her flying back where she collided with a large boulder. She dropped to her knees and, as soon as she was on her feet he fired another blast. It just barely missed her, blowing apart a huge chunk of the cave wall. But still not being able to move fast enough, she was hit with another blast that flung her out of the cave where she hit her head on the side of a boulder and fell unconcious.

* * *

Wesley and Tara took in the devastation of Port Royal as they entered the front gates. The harbor was dotted with burning and sunken ships; buildings were razed and still smoldering and bodies layed strewn around some dead and others dying. The aftermath of hell on earth.

"Good lord." Wesley said taking it all in. "Where on earth are all of the doctors? Whose here to treat all of these people?"

"You are now." the captain said as he slapped Wesley on the back of his shoulder. "The physician's we had here at the port are all...dead and no one here has any medical experience."

"Alright." Wes said as he put his head down. "Prepare a building for me and gather some of your men together to get the people who are still alive."

"As you wish." the captain said as he took off to gather some of his men.

"Tara would you act as my assistant and help me?" Wes asked as he put the soldier he was helping to hold, on the ground. "I need a sturdy pair of hands."

"Speaking of needing help." they heard Faith's voice say. Turning they saw her walking towards them, limping and badly bruised.

* * *

"So the beast took, King?" Wesley asked as he walked away from his last patient of the day in the makeshift hospital. Beds were lined up alongside the wall, with the now sleeping wounded.

"Yeah and he said something about going to a place called The Point of Lost Souls." Faith said as her body slowly started to heal itself.

"I've never heard of a place called that before." Wes said aloud. 'I wish I could've brought some of my bloody books.' "And I thought I told you two just to do a little recon? We were going to go out together."

"Well incase you forgot, you ain't the boss. I am."

"Nevertheless you have to agree with me that at the moment, King isn't important. We have to stop 50..." before he could continue Faith swiftly ran up on him and put a hand around his neck, quickly snatching him off of his feet.

"What the hell did you say?" she asked as she started to squeeze his neck. "Maybe I need to dig the tootsie roll out of my ear, but I thought you just said that my bro ain't important."

"Faith, p...please stop." Tara begged as she put a hand on Faith's arm, to restrain her.

"Stay out of this, Tar'." Faith replied, even though she knew she was going to far. "You listen to me, Wussley. Everybody on this team is important, especially King. You got that?"

"Am I interrupting anything?" they heard a voice from behind them. Turning they saw a young man with shoulder length dark hair and a slight goatee, standing at the doorway.

"No." Faith said as she set down Wesley and released him from her grip. "We were just having a little marital spat." she said as she looked down at Wes, who was now regaining his color and was coughing and hacking on the floor.

'God, I hope Elizabeth doesn't get like that when she gets angry with me.' Will thought to himself.

"Yes, yes we just had a disagreement." Wesley said standing to his feet and rubbing his sore neck. "Now...now was there something that you required?"

"Yes, I require your services." Will said as he stuck out his hand for Wesley to shake, which he promptly did. "My name is William Turner and my wife Elizabeth is deathly ill. I was told that you are a doctor and..."

"Say no more, I'll go to see her at once." he said as he took a look at Faith who nodded her head. "This is my sister and assistant Tara." Wes introduced as Will took her hand and kissed it softly. "And the one with the deranged look in her eye is my wife, Faith."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Will said as he kissed Faith's hand, effectively stopping her from kicking Wesley's ass.

"The pleasures..." Faith stopped talking as another man walked through the door. He was possibly one of the most handsome men Faith had ever seen. "all mine."

"This is, Jack Sparrow." Will said as he followed Faith's gaze.

"That's Captain Jack Sparrow." Jack said as he sauntered over to Faith and took her hand. "My aren't you pretty and..."

"My wife." Wesley said taking Faith's hand out of Jack's. "Now please, Mr. Turner take me to yours."

"What's the matter with 'em?" Jack asked as Tara, Wesley, and Will walked out of the room. "He isn't a eunuch is he?" he asked as he made a snip-snip motion with his hand.

"No, he just has a stick up his ass." Faith replied as she gave him a look. "Do I know you from somewhere?" she asked, mentally berating herself for asking a dumb question. Of course they've never met, because he was over three hundred years older then her.

"I was going to ask you the same thing." he said looking deep in her eyes. "We didn't happen to meet in Singapore did we?"

Before she could answer Wesley walked back in, grabbed her by the arm and took her out of the room.

"Hey, I ain't your property." Faith said as she jerked her arm out of Wesley's grasp. "Get your damn hand off of me."

"You 'eard her mate." Jack said as he took, Faith's hand in his. "The lady doesn't want to be bothered. Now allow me to take you on a tour of this island." without so much as a word Faith walked out of the room, leaving Wesley in a state of outrage.

The Blue Night Pub

Thirty Minutes Later

As Faith and Jack walked into the crowded tavern they saw as, glass bottles were being shot off of people's heads for entertainment. In the corner a duo of musicians were playing a guitar and accordion as the men enjoyed themselves and grabbed themselves some whores.

"Nice to see somebodies still enjoying themselves." Faith said to herself as she held her nose at the awful stench, that seemed to roam in the place.

"We pirates do that, luv." Jack said as he started to saunter over to the bar. "We live life for today and forget about tomorrow. Rum." he said to the barkeep.

"I'll have one too." Faith said as the man gave her a look, which she gave back to him. Nodding his head he ran off to get their orders.

"So who's that stupid git you were with earlier?" Jack asked as the barkeep handed them a glass of rum.

"Like he said, I'm his wife." Faith said with little enthusiasm. She was so gonna kill Wes for that when they got home.

"Mmmm...hmmm..." Jack said not buying it. "And what are you doing in Port Royal?"

"I'm here to find my brother." she replied as they both heard a loud noise followed by a woman's scream.

Suddenly the music stopped and everyone stared at the front door, a man slowly lurched in, dripping blood and looking horribly beaten in ragged clothes.

"Fuck!" Faith yelled as she jumped from the bar and grabbed the man, before he hit the floor. Before she could ask him what was going on, he started to ramble about something in spanish. "What? I...I can't understand you."

"He said that a monster killed his entire crew and took his ship." Jack said as he stood over her and drank from his glass. "Poor bastard."

"Poor us too." Faith said as she gently layed the now dead man's head down to the ground. "Now come on." she said, running for the door.

"B...but the rum?"

"I said come on!" she yelled over her shoulder as she ran out of the pub. With a curse on his lips, Jack drank what was left out of his glass and quickly ran after her.

Place Unknown

Sametime

With smells of sea water and the screech of birds in his ears, King's eyes finally rolled back into place in his head. As they focused he looked around and saw dozens of skeletal and some monkey like demons crewing a ship.

"Where...where the hell am I?" King asked, more of himself as he tried to move.

"You are on the Angel caído." 50-Below said from beside him. "It's a ship I...borrowed from Port Royal."

"Where the hell are we going?" King asked as he tried to stand, only to find that he was chained to the floor of the ship.

"To the Point of Lost Souls." the demon replied as he slapped him hard on the face, knocking him unconcious. "And be glad that I need you alive. I need that soul of yours to apease the god of the sea and release my brothers." he said as he held up two glowing crystals.

* * *

"How is Elizabeth?" Will asked as Wesley walked out of his wifes bedroom.

"I must be honest with you, Will." Wesley said as he wiped his hands of the fresh blood that were on them, with a rag. "Your wifes condition doesn't look to good."

"I know that doctor, but what is it that you can do to save her?" Will asked hysterically as he grabbed the Watcher's shoulders.

"I don't know if I can." Wes admitted sadly. "All, I can do for her now is give her a series of drugs to ease her pain."

"Then give it to her so we can leave." Faith said as she walked up to them in a huff. Every second they wasted 50-Below was getting closer to where he needed to be.

"What's the rush, luv?" Jack asked from his position behind her. "We've only just met."

It took a minute for Faith to answer him, because butterflies seemed to fill up in her stomach from the very sight of him. It wasn't exactly love at first sight that she was feeling, but rather that for some reason she should know him or that she should be close to him.

"Be...because we have to get to the Point of Lost Souls before that demon does."

"And why are you chasing said beastie?"

"Because we were sent here by the king to stop him." Faith replied. It started with a grin and then a full fledged smile, that quickly turned into an all out laugh.

"You...?" Jack asked, as he stopped laughing after getting a glare from her. "Not that a woman of your station can't track..."

"Tia Dalma." Will said interrupting the group.

Jack took on a look of complete confusion while Will looked back at him as if he should know what he was talking about. They both stared at each other for a few more seconds before Jack decided to speak.

"I'm afraid you lost me, mate."

"The doctor doesn't seem to be able to heal, Elizabeth so maybe Tia Dalma can."

"You're still not making any sense at all." Jack said after much confusion.

"Pardon me but is this Tia Dalma a healer?" Wes asked after Will and Jack's exchange.

"No...not that I know of but she knows many things. She's a soothsayer." Will replied as Wesley and Faith gave each other a look, seemingly thinking the same thing.

"If that's true then we would also like to go to her, captain." Wesley said as he turned to look at Jack.

"You people are very confusing?" he replied as he looked at them all strangely. "Now why do we want to go to see Tia again?"

"Because, I'm paying you jackass." Faith said as she slapped the bag full of gold and silver coins into the pirates arms. The warm feeling she was having for him gone.

"Tempting." Jack replied, reaching into the bag and playing with a few coins. "But this is hardly enough."

"Well you can have this too." she said as she took off her doubloon necklace and handed it too him.

"Faith what are you doing?" Wesley asked, wide eyed. "That necklace..."

"Belongs to him now." she whispered into his ear. "Ain't you the one that said he was supposed to have it?"

"I'll take this." Jack said looking at the doubloon and then back at Faith. "And I'll take you where you want to go. Savvy?"

"Five by Five."

* * *

"Elizabeth?" Will started as he walked back in the room and saw Tara feeding her a bowl of soup.

"Will?" Elizabeth asked weakly, as she tried to get up, Tara holding her down with a delicate hand.

"It's alright my love." Will said as he kneeled down by her side and took one of her pale hands. "The doctor doesn't know if he can heal you, so I'm going to go on a journey with Jack to see if I can get you some help."

"N...no...don't...don't leave me."

"I have too." Will said sadly as a tear came to his eye. "It's the only way that I can assure you getting well again."

Not being able to hold onto conciousness anymore, Elizabeth's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she passed out.

"Elizabeth...Eliza..."

"D...don't worry." Tara said as she put a hand on Will's shoulder to comfort him. "I'll wa...watch over her."

"Thank you." Will said back to her as he turned to look at Elizabeth, before walking out of the room. "I'll be back my love."

The Black Pearl II

On the edge of the ship, Jack's first mate Master Gibbs held a hand out to help Jack aboard, just as Faith, Wesley, and Will approached. Tara had opted to stay behind and see if she could try to cure Elizabeth with her magick. Even though she didn't bring her books, she had jotted down some rituals of magick on healing, before they left home.

"Captain have you forgotten the trouble we got into the last time we let a woman aboard?" he asked as Faith stepped on board and looked around.

"No...yes...maybe." Jack said a little confused. "Did somebody die the last time?"

"Aye...does cannibal island ring a bell?"

"Don't eat me...awk don't eat me. Eat Jack...Awk...Eat Jack..."

"What did the bird say!" Jack yelled as he grabbed his pistol and pointed it at Cotton's parrot.

"The same thing the crew, myself included were thinking sir. We don't want to be eaten and hopefully by chance we won't be going on another adventure without getting paid are we?"

"Aye, but this one paid a handsome fee." Jack said as he threw the bag of coins to him.

"A little short." Gibbs said as he looked into the bag. "But it'll do for now. Please allow me to introduce myself." Gibbs said with a bow as he took Faith's hand and then shook Wesley's. "I am the captain's first mate Mr. Gibbs."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Wesley said letting go of his hand. "Now is there a place where me and my... wife can get some rest?"

"Of course, Pintel...Ragetti... please show our guests to where they'll be sleeping and get them something to eat."

"Yes sir." Pintel said grumply as he walked off deck with the three of them.

"So you got what you went in for, then?" Gibbs asked as Jack took out his compass.

"I'm not totally sure."

"And these guests we've taken on...where exactly are we taking them?" Gibbs continued to question.

"Somewhere far away." the captain said putting away his compass.

"So... do we have a heading for this far away land?" he asked incredously.

"Hah! A heading. Set sail in a... mmm...a general... in that way - direction to where Tia Dalma is. I believe you know the way."

"Tia Dalma, but sir..."

"Mr. Gibbs, I'm the captain and this is my ship." Jack said, suddenly sounding very sober. "And I say where we go. Is that clear?"

"Aye." Gibbs replied sorely as Jack walked off.

"What's wrong with the captin'?" Marty, the midget pirate asked as he walked up to Gibbs.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's big."

* * *

"I wanted to apologize to you about what I said about King earlier." Wesley said as he closed the door to their room and took off his hat. "But I meant what I said. If it comes down to King or the safety of the world, then I must choose the world."

"And I'm telling you that I ain't gonna let it get that far." Faith said as she jabbed him in the chest with a finger.

"And what about Jack Sparrow?" Wesley asked as he took off his hat.

"What about him?"

"I saw the way you were looking at him and..."

"What...are you jealous or some shit now?" Faith asked as she gave him a hard look. "We ain't really married and by the way remind me to kick your ass for that later. Me and you have dark hair dumbass so you coulda told them that I was your sis and Tar' was your wife. That's more believible."

"Be that as it may you are playing my wife in this time and I demand a little respect. Also in case you've forgotten, we're not here for a love connection, we're here to save the world."

"I ain't interested in some three hundred year old pirate. Now shut the hell up and get some sleep." she said as they both looked and saw only one hammock in the room.

Letting out a sigh, Wesley rolled his eyes as he took some covers out of a cabinet and made a pallet on the floor. This was definately going to be one of the longest bloody trips of his life.

Swamp Land

The Next Night

The bayou land was nothing more then a dark, gloomy, overgrown swamp with all sorts of noises emitting from within, and a fog bank rolling through it. As the group looked around they saw that people were occasionally seen standing quietly in the darkness among the trees, watching them.

"Why does it seem that we always have to go to the creepiest places on earth?" Wesley asked outloud as he nervously looked around.

"Don't worry, Doctor." Will started as he helped to row the long boat. "I admit this place seems... strange, but Tia Dalma is quite pleasant."

"Yeah, but is she gonna be able to help us or not?" Faith asked, as a spooky looking hut came into view. But before she got an answer, they had pulled up to a hut and came to a stop.

Jack stood from his spot and stepped onto the landing.

"No worries, mates. Me and Tia will make with the little talky talky and we'll be on our way." he said as he cautiously entered Tia's shack, pushing the door open slowly.

Near the inside of the shack door hung a live snake, moving slowly and just like last time, Tia was sitting at a table and looked up from her crab claws, seeing Jack as he entered in through the doorway. She seemed to be a young woman in her late twenties, but because of lack of hygiene and anything else, she had black teeth and pasty looking skin.

"Captin' Jack Sparrow." Tia said standing to her feet. "I taught since I told you to go to Port Royal, dat I wouldn't see you again for awhile. Did you find what you were looking for?"

"You're the bloody seer, luv. You tell me."

"You. You have a touch of... destiny about you, Faith." Tia said as she looked past Jack and saw as Faith, Wesley, Gibbs and Will walked in.

"You know me?" Faith asked as she gave her a look.

"Even in this time your power is legendary." she replied as she walked back to the table, leaving Faith and Wes stunned. Did she know that they were from the future. "Now what... service... may I do you? Hmmm? You know I demand payment."

"I figured as much." Faith said as she reached down her bra and handed Tia an expensive golden wrist watch.

"Hmmm, that looks just like my..." realizing that Faith had stolen his watch, Wes gave her an irritated glance but remained quiet.

"Dis be a fair payment." the voodoo priestess said as she put the watch down and smiled up at Faith.

"Yeah, now come on lady. Ain't you supposed to read my fortune?"

"Yes, but what is it dat you want to know about? The future of now or de one of tomorrow?"

"You..."

"We are looking for the demon known as 50-Below." Wesley cut in as he grabbed Faith's arm so she wouldn't strangle the seer. "We got word that he was going to the Point of lost souls and we wanted to know where that was so we can stop him."

"A demon?" Gibbs asked as he took a step back. "Captain, you didn't say nothin' about a demon."

"You will come to find out, Mr. Gibbs that I don't tell you about a lot of things." Jack said with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah...yes 50-Below." Tia said as she turned around and picked up a heavy and very ancient looking book. "Him one of de most powerful demons alive and him brodders are just as powerful." she said as she looked through the book and opened it to a page that showed 50-Below and a three other demons at his side.

One was a red reptillian like beast, with a humanoid body and the head of a dragon. Another one was black, with large bat wings and looked like some kind of devil. And the last one had the face of a bulldog and carried a large staff in his hands.

"De red one is the only other one named. He be Ursus and he possesses de element power of fire. De black one has de power of lightning and de dog has mystical sage powers."

"My word where did you get this book?" Wesley asked as he picked it up and stared at it hard.

"Believe me when I say dat you Watcher's ain't de only one's dat watch." Tia replied as she winked at him playfully, causing him to gulp.

"This is all mad interesting but we gotta get to him, before he kills..."

"Don't worry, Faith your king will be alright." Tia cut her off. Sitting back down, she held several crab shells between her cupped hands and closed her eyes. Throwing them on the table she saw how they fell and instantly told them where they needed to go.

"We have our course, so let's be off then." Gibbs said as he and Jack walked out of the room. Before Will could ask about Elizabeth. Tia looked at him and smiled.

"Don't worry, William your bride is alright...now please de both of you leave me and Faith alone." she said as he walked out happily, joining the others of the long boat. Lingering around a bit, Wesley looked to Faith for guidance and as she nodded her head he walked out to join the others.

"So what did you..."

"Let me see yer, hand." Tia cut Faith off in mid-sentence. Doing as she asked Faith gave her, her ring hand and after a few seconds a burning sensation went through her body that made her involuntarily growl low in her throat. "You're not quite what you seem are you?" she asked after a few seconds of looking at her hand.

"Neither are you." Faith replied as she jerked her hand away and reached out with her senses. "You ain't human or a demon. What the hell are you?"

"The same ting you are, I suppose." Tia said sitting back smugly in her chair.

"I don't have time for this cryptic bullshit!" Faith said angrily as she turned around and walked out of the shack. "Be seeing you."

"You and yer friends won't make it through de battle to come, Faith!" Tia yelled after her. "Not until your blood tears rain." she went on as she picked up the crab shells and threw them back on the table. "A touch of destiny."


	11. Chapter 10 City In The Mist

Chapter 10

City In The Mist

The sun was completely hidden behind the dark, gray fog that had grown larger and darker as the ship glided deeper into foreign waters. And the deeper and deeper it got the colder and colder it became.

Faith sat on some steps on deck of the Black Pearl II, contemplating the warning that Tia Dalma had yelled to her. She had to admit that it confirmed the sinking feeling she had in the pit of her stomach, every since she started her journey. What if her and her friends didn't make it through the coming battle.

"My tremendous intuitive sense of the female creature informs me that you are troubled." Jack Sparrow said as he walked over to her, holding a bottle of rum. "Some rum by chance?" he asked, gesturing to the now half empty bottle. "Not what's your story, luv?"

Not saying a word yet, Faith first jerked the bottle out of his hand and took a swig before replying.

"What are you talking about?" she asked as Jack smiled devilishly at her.

"Well first of all, I refuse to believe that the king himself gave you and your...group permission to hunt down this beastie." he said as he saw a shocked look on her face. "And secondly, I refuse to believe that a woman as..." he stopped for a moment to look at her ample cleavage, before saying something. "endowed as yerself could be married to the likes of that." he said pointing over to Wesley, who was standing by the port of the boat. Not watching where he was, a mast beam spun around and hit him in the back, effectively knocking him off of the boat with a big splash.

"Man over board!" one of Jack's crew yelled out as Jack laughed and looked back at Faith.

Embarressed beyond belief, Faith stood up and tossed the bottle into the Captain's hands. Jack looked in his bottle, turned it upside-down, and frowned only as a few drops spilled out.

"Why is the rum always gone?" he asked himself as he ran over to join his crew.

As they started to pull Wesley, who was spluttering and kicking about in the water, attention was turned away from him as they saw that the sea was no longer empty. Wreckage from a ship littered the water, along with the bodies of its crew. What was left of the ship's hull burned, a ragged British flag hanging limply from the stern. And oddly enough as it were an iceberg sat not ten feet, beside it. The Black Pearl II slipped silently through it all, the scene calling for hushed voices.

"We must put an end to that beast." Gibbs said as he lowered his head at seeing the devastation.

"I agree." Jack said taking in the sight.

"Hello, I'm still hanging on for dear life here." Wesley said wide eyed as he struggled to keep himself upright. Deciding to help out Will Turner grabbed the rope that the crew was using and helped Wesley the rest of the way up.

"Surely this beast can't be this powerful." Will said stunned himself. "I've never seen anything like this in my life." 'Even with Davy Jones.'

"Yeah, he is that powerful." Faith said suddenly determined. "But believe me, I'm so gonna kick his ass."

"You?" Pintel asked incredously. "What the hell can you do, poppet?"

"A whole lotta things." Faith said as she vamped out. "Now everybody get back to work." she said as her yellow eyes scanned the stunned, unmoving crew. "Now!"

"You heard the thing, girl...lady!" Jack yelled to his men utterly grossed out, his arms flailing all over the place. "Let's move."

Port Royal

Sametime

Putting a towel filled with herbs on deathly pale Elizabeth's forehead, Tara started to finish her healing spell until she felt a strong presence in the room. Turning she saw a black woman, who she immediately picked up as being a voodoo preistess.

"W...who...who are you?" Tara stuttered out as the woman came closer to her.

"Don't worry, child." Tia Dalma said as she touched Tara's face and then looked down at Elizabeth. "I'm just a friend."

"Wh...what are you doing here?" Tara asked as Tia went to work on Elizabeth.

"To heal yer friend and to set you on your journey." Tia said looking up at her. "Your healing spell, be adequate but not enough. I must put a little of me own power into her." she said as a soft glow emanted from her hand, which she put above Elizabeth's chest. After a few seconds Elizabeth's eyes snapped open and she took in a large gulp of air. "And some of me power must be given to you." she said turning to Tara.

Before Tara could say anything, Tia put her hand on her chest aswell and power Tara never dreamed of coursed through her body. Looking down at her own hands, she saw that her body started to faintly glow.

"Tia...Tia Dalma?" Elizabeth said as her skin tone turned to normal and as she sat up in bed.

"Yes, child. Now get up." she said as she helped her stand to her feet. "Your husband be in danger."

"What?" Elizabeth asked even as she started to put on some of her husbands fresh and clean clothes.

"You'll see wat I mean shortly." Tia said as she threw Elizabeth and Tara a sword. Extending her hand an invicible ball formed around the two womens' bodies and they hovered off of their feet. Gesturing towards the window the ball hurled the two off and into the days sky, towards the destination of the others. "Now all is as it should be."

The Point Of Lost Souls

"I can't see a bloody thing?" Jack said as he tried to use his spyglass to try to find land. But the unrelenting veil of fog made it impossible to see much of anything a few feet in front of them.

"This gold isn't worth coming all the way out here." Gibbs said as he stood behind Jack. "We can barely even see our on hands in front of our faces."

"I agree with, Gibbs." Pintel said as he walked over. "We're doing all this for a little bag of gold."

"No, we're doing this for the safeguard of the world." Ragetti said as he put his fake eye back in, after cleaning it. "This may very well be the final battle between good and evil."

"Shut your gob, Ragetti." Pintel said a bit agitated. "Always with that talk about good or evil. I say we leave that demon bitch behind and make it back towards clear waters. What do you say captin'?"

"I say that if you want her gone, then tell her to leave." Jack said as he went back to looking out into the sea. "Mr. Gibbs, mind the ship."

* * *

"Faith was it really necessary to expose yourself as a demon?" Wesley asked as he paced around in their cabin, even as she finished putting on some man pants, shirt, and a black bandana. "Things were going just as we..."

"I don't even care anymore...all I want to do is get King, destroy this damn demon and go home."

"Again what's your rush to leave?" Jack asked as he walked into their room.

"What are you doing here?" Faith asked as she turned to Jack.

"I came to find out what's going on." he replied. "My pirate instinct also tells me that the both of you are lying. I already know that the both of you aren't married and that you're a...thing." he said as he nervously pointed at Faith. "But I want to know what's really going on here?"

Giving Faith a look, Wesley lowered his head before telling the good captain the truth. An edited truth, but the truth none the less. But before Jack could respond there was a sudden violent jolt of the ship, that nearly knocked them all off their feets.

"That didn't seem right." Jack said as he stabalized himself.

"And it don't feel right either." Faith said, sensing something as she ran out of the room, the others hot on her heels.

As they ran out of the room, they look towards the sea and visible briefly deep in the fog, like a shark fin slicing through water was the topmast of a ship, beige sails billowing. The ship still couldn't be seen but the fog lit up around her with each boom of her guns. She was firing on both sides now, hammering the Black Pearl II.

"Come about and strike the sails!" Gibbs yelled out some orders. "Unlash the boats! Gunnery crew ... jackets off the cannons!" he said as Jack ran up to him. "Captain when I went to steer the ship...it just came out of nowhere."

As he said that the other ship was still obscured by the fog as it passed, but not the mizzen-top, of which there hung the frightening skull and black wings of the Angel caído. Spanish for the fallen angel.

"It seems that we're about to be boarded." Will said as he ran on the deck and threw a sword to Wesley. Just as he said that, over a dozen sets of red glowing eyes appeared out of the foggy darkness. As the demons eyes stared at them hungrily, the white monkey demons jumped the distance from their ship and onto the deck of the Black Pearl II.

"Alright mates it's time for all of us to die." Jack said as he took out his cutlass.

"Captain?" Gibbs replied, confused as he looked over at him.

"It sounded inspirational in my head."

Lining up the pirates stood firm as they engaged the demons in combat.

Wesley and Will stood together and pushed back their attackers, just as Gibbs elbowed a demon in the face. Marty used a stick to push an aggressor away, but the monkey stood back up and smacked him on the head, knocking him unconcious.

Will looked over his shoulder at Wesley and saw that he was in trouble. Fighting off the demons attacking him he tried to get to him, but someone knocked him down and out. As Gibbs was pushed to the ground, a demon pointed a gun in his face. Another demon knocked Wesley in the head, and he fell haphazardly to the ground. Faith was the only one still fighting back and she was definitely holding her own against the attackers until she was face-to-face with 50-Below. With a smile 50 knocked her halfway across the room and when she looked up, 50-Below was standing over her with a scythe.

"Hello, little one." 50 started with a chuckle, as his demons lined up the others on their knees in front of him, as he paced angrily around them. "Welcome to the Point of lost souls."

* * *

'I'm going to hate meself in the morning.' Jack thought to himself as he sat in a rowboat alone, rowing away from the Black Pearl II. Feeling another wave of guilt flash through him, Jack stopped rowing, and looked back to see his ship overtaken by the enemy. Looking back into the direction he was headed, he then consulted his compass but before it told him where he should go, he looked up and saw an island. Picking up his oars he made his way towards it.

Mysterio Island

Early Morning

A monkey demon closed the door to a large cage deep inside a cave with Wesley, Faith, Will, and the rest of the Black Pearls crew. Making sure they were all secured, he growled at them all before moving away.

"Great...just great." Faith said as she kicked at the steel cage. "Now what?" as she said that they all heard a groaning sound. Turning Faith and Wesley saw King laying all the way in the back of the cage on the ground, struggling to regain conciousness. "King!" Faith yelled as she delicately put his head in her lap and slapped his face.

"Huh...what? I'm up...I'm up." King replied groggily as he opened his eyes. "Faith...what what are you doing here?" he asked as he sat up.

"We're here to save your ass, dumby." she said standing to her feet.

"By getting yourself locked up in a cage with me?" he asked incredously.

"Hey, I didn't get that far in my plan." she said as she playfully hit him on the shoulder.

"King are you alright?" Wesley suddenly asked, concerned.

"Yeah, but I'm starving." he said as his stomach started to growl. "I haven't eaten since we got here."

"Well here you go, mate." Ragetti said as he pulled something that looked like beef jerky out of his pants pocket. "I was saving this for meself but if you're hungry..."

"No that's alright." King said as he looked at the rotted little meat. "I'll live."

"I'm mad at the bloody, Captin'" Pintel said as he flopped on the floor. "I can't believe that he abandoned us...again."

"Yeah, if I see that jackass again, I'm so gonna kick his ass." Faith said aloud, others muttering their agreement.

* * *

With a low hum and a flash of light, the invicible ball that inclosed Tara and Elizabeth, suddenly lowered to the ground on a beach of Mysterio island and let them go. Moving unsteadily, Elizabeth was about to fall until her companion caught her.

"Thank you." Elizabeth said as she stood firmly to her feet. "That was a rough ride."

"Y...yeah." Tara stuttered as she let her go and looked back at the very thin woman. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, but I'm just a little famished. I haven't eaten in a couple of days."

"Then might I interest you in some fish?" a familiar voice asked. Turning Elizabeth was startled as she saw Captain Jack Sparrow, further down the beach, walking in their direction with a few fish on a makeshift fishing pole.

"Ja...Jack? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, pirate." Jack replied as he squinted his eyes at her carefully.

"I thought I told you never to call me that, especially when you were inside of my body." Elizabeth replied as she thought about what she said and looked back at Tara. "That didn't sound righ..."

"Was it a body switch?" Tara asked as she cut her off. After Elizabeth's nod, Tara looked at her in understanding. "I...I've already been there and done that. Now Ja...Jack where are my friends?"

* * *

Wesley was standing, leaning against the wall, Pintel and Ragetti were sitting on the floor, Gibbs was leaning against the wall, King was pacing nervously in the corner, and Faith started kicking the door to the cage.

"So why is this beast keeping us captive?" Gibbs asked the group to here their opinions. "I mean not that I'm complaining about being alive, but why didn't he just kill us?"

"Because he's planning on sacrificing us." King said as he stopped pacing. "When I wasn't being knocked out by those assholes, I overheard him talking about sacrificing our souls to some kinda pagan god."

"But why...what did we do to 'im?" Ragetti asked.

"It's not what we did to him, it's just that the last crystal that's holding another demon is somewhere under the sea. The only way to get it is to call upon some pagan god and sacrifice souls to it."

"Bugger." someone from the group said aloud.

"I wish you would stop kickin' at that door poppet." Pintel said as he looked over at Faith. "It's annoying and it's not like you're gonna kick through it."

"He's right Faith." Wesley spoke up. "That door is made out of solid steel and I doubt even your Slayer powers can..." he stopped talking as she kicked at the door, and was rewarded when it swung open.

"Never give up, never surrender." she said as she sighed proudly.

"Let's go." Wesley said as he walked out, the others following up behind him.

"That's it?" Faith asked incredously. "No thank you?"

"Thanks, Faith." came King's voice.

"I just want my props is all." she said as she ran out of the cell, quickly taking the lead. As they walked out of the cave they heard some tribal drumbeats.

Going towards the light out of the end of the tunnel, they walked out into what seemed like a dense forest. Hearing where the drumbeats were coming from, they ducked behind some trees and saw a few monkey demons dancing around a huge bonfire, with two crystals sitting on an altar near them.

"You guys ready to fight?" Faith asked as she watched the demons dance.

"Yeah..." King asked. "Shouldn't we think up a plan first? Why do you wanna fight now..."

"Because it's round three." she said as she vamped out and turned around with a side kick. Catching her leg, 50-Below threw her up against a tree, just as the others got ready for a fight.

Seeing that Faith was nearly taking on everyone, Ragetti and Pintel seemed to share a thought at the same time. Slipping away from the group, they ran over to the fire and stole the two crystals. Seeing what they were doing some demons ran over to them and the two started to play a game of keep away from them.

"Hey you two!" Faith yelled as she kicked 50-Below away from herself. "Get those crystals to the ship! And Will you and the crew make sure they get there." she said as 50-Below went in for another attack.

* * *

"This is the place." Tara said as her magical senses led her to the entrance of a forest.

"Well, glad I could help you walk this far." Jack said as he turned around to leave. "I'll be off then."

"Oh no you don't, Jack." Elizabeth said as she grabbed his arm so he wouldn't run. "You're not going to run off again."

Suddenly they all heard a scream, making Jack instinctively take out his cutlass, and stood back as Will and the crew of the Black Pearl ran out of the forest as if the devil himself were chasing them.

"Will?" Elizabeth asked as she took him in. He was covered in gore and black blood and carried two swords, aswell as two glowing crystals.

"Elizabeth you're al..."

"Will, kiss your woman later." Gibbs adviced as he looked back towards the woods. "We have to run." Will nodded, hesitated then gave Jack his sword -- now Jack had two, one for each hand.

"Come on, Elizabeth." Will said as he took his wife by the hand. "We must leave this place."

"If memory serves the Black Pearl is this way." Gibbs said as he took off.

Will and Elizabeth then raced away, and dissappeared behind a grouping of trees. Jack watched them a moment, then turned to face the pirates, who too were fleeing.

"I wonder what that was all about?" he asked himself as he stuck the two swords in the ground, crossed and leaned casually against a rock. Just as he got comfortable a group of monkey demons rounded a corner, cutlasses drawn, ready to fight. "Bugger!" Jack yelled out as he picked up the swords and started swinging. Seeing that the demons were occupied with Jack, Tara slowly slipped past them and ran to where the others were.

* * *

Faith and 50-Below stood in one place, trading feints, thrusts and parries with lightning speed, almost impossible to follow. Raising her cutlass Faith took a step around an imaginary circle, just as 50-Below, with scythe in hand, stepped the other way, maintaining his relationship with her. Not being able to take it anymore, 50 exploded kicked a dead demons hand, causing a sword to jump out of it's hand and into his. With a growl he attacked her, both blades flashing.

Overwhelmed, Faith's cutlass was knocked out of her hands and just as 50 was about to slice her in half a jet stream of fire raced past his head. Looking up he saw Tara, standing boldly out in the open.

"Ah...a witch." 50 said amused as he twirled both his weapons around and advanced towards her. Not paying him any mind, Tara's eyes started to cloud over white as she mumbled a spell under her breath, even as Wesley and King held the demon minions at bay.

Falling to her knees as a new form of power surged through her body Faith suddenly snapped her eyes open. With a growl of her own she charged forward and slammed a jumping roundhouse kick against 50-Below's chest. The demon was pushed back, surprised at the sudden show of power and dropped his weapons.

Even though he managed to block some of Faith's punches she broke through his defense and gave him a few lightning punches to his ribs. Ducking under a punch by him, she swung a powerful hook punch that smashed across the temple of the demon's head.

Catching him totally off guard, Faith slammed a rainbow kick across his head, and followed with a knee to the chest that sent him too his knees. Feeling the power in her body reaching a crescendo Faith felt as if she were ignited with power. As she glared at the demon, she was about to reach down and grab her cutlass when she suddenly heard Tara scream.

Looking up at her, she saw rocks hovering at her side as the earth itself started to shake from her power. Not knowing what was going on, Tara suddenly clapped her hands together and WA-BOOOM! A massive wall of flame punched sky-ward, just as a red glowing pentagram appeared beneath the demon, that paralyzed him into place. 50-Below whirled, stunned at the searing heat, arms thrown up in horror as the flame came down in the form of a fiery dragon and hit him, square on. With a scream on his lips and flesh burning, 50-Below was reduced to nothing more then ash, even as his minions all dissappeared.

Stunned at the force of power that Tara displayed, King saw that she was wobbling on her feet and was about to pass out. Pushing himself, through his own fatigue, he ran to her and caught her before she fell to the ground.

"What was that all about?" Faith asked, Wesley as King cradled Tara in his arms.

"Wake up sleeping beauty." King said as he looked down at the beautiful blonde. "It's almost time to go home."

* * *

Ducking under a sword swipe, Jack jumped back and slashed his sword across the chest of yet another demon. Fatigued, he was about to try his hand at running until all of the demons surrounding him vanished.

"Ha!" Jack yelled into the wind as he looked around to make sure the threat was all gone. "You stupid git's. Mark this as the day that you almost killed Captain..." suddenly a coconut fell from a tree and smashed him on the top of the head. "Jack Sparrow." he finished as he passed out on the dirty ground.

Port Royal

The Next Day

"Are you sure you can't stay a little bit longer?" Will asked as he and Wesley shook hands down by the docks.

"I'm sorry, but we must go back to our own time."

"It's a shame really." Jack said as he gave Faith a wink. "But I suppose that it never would've worked out for us anyway, luv."

"Don't say that just yet." Faith said as she licked her lips seductively at him. "Come here." as Jack closed his eyes and leaned in thinking he was about to get a kiss, Faith leaned way back and bitch slapped him hard on the face.

"Ow...bloody..."

"That was for leaving us yesterday you jackass." Faith said as she looked to the others. "Come on guys let's go home."

"I can honestly say that I saw that coming." Gibbs said as he walked up behind Jack, even as Faith and her group started to walk away. "And you never did tell me, Captain, did you ever find what you were looking for?"

Still touching his sore cheek and before he could answer a beautiful woman suddenly bumped into the Captain. Turning Jack gaped as he saw her. She had long flowing black hair, brown eyes, and one of the most beautiful bodies he had ever seen before.

"Sorry, sir." the woman said in a beautiful irish accent. "I've seen to have bumped inta' ya."

"Believe me it isn't a problem, luv." Jack said staring at the woman hard. Something about her just seemed so familiar. "Now what's your name?"

"Eliza...Eliza Lehane."

"What a beautiful name." Jack said, as he leaned down as kissed the woman's hand. "And yes, Mr. Gibbs, now I believe I've found what I was looking for."

As soon as those words left his mouth, the ground under them started to violently shake. Taking Eliza by the arm, Port Royal proceeded to have the biggest earthquake ever recorded in the history of Jamaica.

* * *

"Home sweet home!" King yelled out as the portal closed behind them, dropping them off in the Faith in the King lobby. "And I can safely say now that I hate the pirate time."

"I'm inclined to agree. I never realized how much I would miss modern convenences. Like using the bathroom!" he screamed out as he ran for the restroom, holding himself.

"I say we celebrate." King said looking at his girls. "Hey Faith, why don't you order up that mean pizza like you always do?"

"Haha." she replied with a role of her eyes. "Before we eat anything, help Tara get rid of these damn things." she said as she handed him the two barbarian beast crystals. "Maybe you can use some of that new power of yours Tar'?"

"I...I can't." Tara said as she looked down at her hands. "It wasn't my power."

"Come on Tara...when english gets out of the bathroom, we can get him to help us out." King said as they walked out of the room, leaving Faith alone. Taking the ring Tara made her, off of her finger, she tossed it in the air, caught it and dropped it in her pocket. With a smile on her face, Faith was about to walk out of the room, until she heard an echoed voice of Tia Dalma in the room.

"You won't survive de battle to come."

A/N I hope you guys like this crossover. Also if you do a little homework on 1692, Port Royal really did have an earthquake and it destroyed most of the city.


	12. Chapter 11 Tears Of The Prophet

A/N Thanks for all the great reviews and sorry for taking so long in updating. And don't worry Faith-rulz this story will have a happy ending. And to ArticWolf2 I don't write slash fanfics...sorry.

Chapter 11

Tears Of The Prophet

BGM Club

Night

"Man I can't remember the last time we had fun like this!" King yelled over to Faith as they danced together on the floor. They had been running themselves ragged with cases for the last couple of weeks and had decided to go out to have some fun. "I just wish my girl would come over and dance with me though." he said glancing back at Tara, who was at a table not to far away talking to Wesley.

"Look, King there's something you need to know about her!" Faith yelled back as she gave him a sad look. Every since they had come back from the past, her senses were on high alert. And the one thing she learned was to read certain things about people. And what she picked up about Tara was only what she could interpret as lust. She only picked that feeling up however when Tara was around her.

"Yeah, what the...hell is that guy doing over there?" he asked as he looked over her shoulder. Following his gaze she saw an energetically dancing couple. Although the girl's style was more contemporary, the guy was dancing way too fast for the music, with an unmistakable 70's disco influence. As her senses reached out she could already tell that the guy was a vampire, but there was something off about the blonde. Even though she couldn't see her face, there was something still familiar about her.

"What was the last thing that guy danced to, K.C. and the Sunshine Band?" King asked, snapping her out of her musings.

"Probably so, but he ain't exactly the type of guy that thrives on sunshine." she replied as the couple got close again, and the girl extended her arm, pointing at the door. The guy took the hint, and led her out with his arm around her. Faith watched them go, not suspicious of his intentions, because she already knew what he was going to do.

Nodding her head to King, she quickly put down her drink and started out after them. As she strode out and looked around, King came out right behind her followed closely by the others.

"Where'd she go?" Faith said looking around.

"Where'd who go? What's going on?" Wesley asked as Faith took a few steps down the alley to the left to check things out. The others looking around also.

"I saw a vamp taking a girl out here."

"I bet it's nothing. They're probably just making out." Wesley said as they all heard a girl call out in a complaining tone. Seconds later they also heard a loud noise, as though something was just broken. By habit King pulled a stake out of his jacket as Faith took it from him and headed in the direction of the noise.

'That's not what making out sounds like, unless I'm doing it wrong.' Wes thought to himself as he followed the others down the dark alley.

As they rounded a corner, they saw the outlines of the couple from the dance floor. The boy had the girl up against a section of temporary chain link fencing that was leaning against the building.

* * *

"Stop struggling. This won't hurt...much." the boy said as he vamped out and moved in to bite the girl.

Surprisingly she grabbed him by the neck, pushed him away a bit and elbow jabbed him in the face. He staggered back and regained his balance as she jumped onto a crate, did a jumping roundhouse kick to his face, knocking him to the pavement. As Faith and the others arrived, the girl noticed her and approached, smiling.

"Hey Faith." Chrystal said with a huge smile. "Long time no see."

Faith was taken aback and just as she was about to answer, the vampire came up behind Chrystal and grabbed her by the shoulders. Going back into fight mode, she snapped her head back to head butt him in the face and grabbed onto his arm. Twisting the vampire, she shoved him into the section of chain link fence.

Going on the defense she knee'd him in the gut from behind. As the vamp whirled around and tried to backhand punch her, she easily ducked it, punched him in the gut and then again in the face. Paralyzed in place, everyone just watched her fight, even King, who followed her moves with jerks of his head. Doing a high side kick to the vampire's jaw, she grabbed onto his shirt and neck and threw him to the ground. While the vamp did a no-hand front roll to control his fall, Chrystal reached over to Faith for the stake and jerked it from her hand.

"Thanks." she said as behind her the vampire used the momentum of his roll to get back to his feet and run at her, throwing a punch as he came. Seeing it coming she ducked it, hooked her hand on his shoulder, turned him around and pushed him back into the fence. Raising the stake, she jammed it cleanly into his chest and jerked it back out, making the vampire instantly crumble into ashes. Faith could only stare in confused amazement as Chrystal faced her and handed her back the stake.

"Hey Faith, how you been?" Chrystal asked with a wide smile. She never saw the punch coming. Instantly knocking her out, Faith picked her up and the gang went off into the night.

* * *

Her head throbbing after coming back into the realm of conciousness, Chrystal opened up her eyes and found Faith staring down at her. And looking around she saw that she was in Faith's bed.

"Who or what the fuck are you?" Faith asked, on the verge of turning into her vampiric visage. Her inner demon had to calm down at looking at something that pretended to be her friend. Even though she had to admit that she smelled just like her.

"Come on, Faith...it's me Chrys."

"A likely story." Wesley commented from behind Faith.

"And how would you know, Wes?" Chrys asked as she sat up in bed.

"How do you know..."

"Your name?" Chrystal finished for him. "I know all of you, because the powers that be showed me all you guys."

"At least part of her story is true." King said walking into the room, shaking dirt off of his boots. "I just went to where I buried her and her body ain't there."

"So what, you tellin' me that you went to heaven or something?"

"No." Chrys replied as she met Faith's gaze. "But I almost went to the bad place."

Flashback

Some Month's Before

Chrystal immediately felt that something was wrong as the drugs she had just taken surged throughout her body. She had taken a huge dose before, but it had'nt felt anything like this. If Faith knew that she had done this she would be so mad. And now here she was caring what someone else thought of her. The slightly older girl seemed to genuinely care about her, so she decided to give her a shot. But she had to shoot up just one more time and then she'd stop.

Closing her eyes to brace the pain, she slumped over and hit her head on the side of the sink. With a gasp, a few moments later, she opened her eyes and saw Faith and King in the bathroom with her.

"Damn." King said aloud as he croched down beside something.

"I'm fine...you guys. I'll be okay. I'm just..." she stopped talking as she turned to see her body lying a few feet away from where she was. "Dead?"

"Bury her someplace nice." Faith said sadly as she hurriedly walked out of the room. "I'll be right back."

"Faith! Faith! I'm right here." Chrys yelled out.

"Damnit." King suddenly exclaimed, snapping her out of her musings."Why the hell did you have to do this kid?" he asked, knowing he wasn't going to get an answer. "Don't you know that Faith needed you even more then you needed us?"

"King...King, I'm right here." she replied, tears stinging her eyes as a wind started to blast through the room affecting only her. Backing into a corner she slowly slid down to the floor and watched as a dark shadow seeped out of the wall opposite her. The air rippled like a pond and a big armored demon with a broken off horn materialized from it.

"Hey. How's it going?" it asked with a wave as she slowly stood up and took a few steps closer, showing no fear .

"You're - you're - death? You've come to take me?" she asked as the demon burst into an echoing laughter.

"Are you kidding?" he asked offering her his hand. "I'm Skip." he said as she just looked at him. "You're Chrystal Jones, right?"

"Yeah, but who are you? What the hell is going on?!"

"What's going on little girl is a choice. You can either come with me or stay here and suffer your fate."

Weighing her options and giving him a look up and down, she made her choice.

"I'll take my chances."

"Whatever you say kid." Skip replied with a snap of his fingers. Suddenly the mysterious wind kicked back up and a red portal opened up behind her, with the echoing screams of those already damned. "Well good luck in hell kid." Skip said turning to leave.

"Wait...hell?"

"Yeah..." he said turning back to her. "Don't you know that's where all whores go?"

Shaking with anger and fear, Chrystal took one of Skip's outstrecthed hands and faded into nothingness.

End Flashback

"When Skip took me out of the bathroom, I ended up alone in some kinda desert." she went on. "I walked in it for...God knows how long until I came to a small pond. When I looked into it, I saw all of you guys."

"And that's how you know Wes and Tar'?" Faith replied thinking.

"But there's still something I don't understand." King said, putting down his dirty shovel. "How long have you been back and how did you learn how to fight like that? The last time I saw you, you couldn't go a round with a fruit fly."

"I've been back for almost a week and believe it or not but you and Faith taught me." she said as all of them gave her a look. "When I was in that desert it was like time didn't mean anything. So when I looked into that pool and saw you guys fighting, I started to copy your moves and when I got them right I was sent back here to Boston."

"And you really expect us to believe all of that, rubbish?" Wesley asked, giving her a stern look. "I can't believe..."

"She...she's telling the truth." Tara spoke for the first time, cutting him off. " I...I read her aura and she's telling the truth...a...about all of it."

"So what are you here for?"

"To be your new vi..." before Chrys could finish her sentence, she started to clutch the side of her head in pain.

"What the hell?!"

"It's alright." Faith said grabbing King's arm to calm him down. "She's having a vision."

"There's a girl in an alley on Melrose." Chrystal said as she snapped her eyes open, sickly sweat dropping off of her forehead. "She's being attacked by a vampire."

"Alright, I'm going."

"Faith what if this is a trap?" Wesley asked as he ran forward and grabbed her arm. "This girl comes in here with a fantastic story and you believe her?"

"No but if what she's saying is true, then I'll believe her." she said as she put a stake in his hand. "And as for this being a trap, that's why you're coming with me."

* * *

In a dark alley a vampire pinned a girl up against a wall and bent down close to her neck.

"No please." the girl screamed out making the demon smile at her.

"Evening." Faith spoke loudly as she walked down the opposite end of the alley, her hands held tightly in her duster pockets.

"Get lost!" the demon growled as he turned back to his meal.

"Not until I see what you guys are doing, it looks wicked fun."

"What?"

"Help me!" the girl yelled out again.

"I don't think you heard me." the vampire said as he roughly threw the girl to the ground. "Get out of here."

"Can't do it."

"Then you just made the biggest mistake of your life—" not wasting anymore time Faith punched the vampire in the face, then knocked him into a wooden

porch located at the side of the alley, causing the rails to splinter. As the demon came back for more Faith pushed him back into the splinters turning him into ash, even as the girl got up and ran away.

"Can't even get a thank you anymore." Faith whispered to herself, as she turned around and looked in the darkness. "Are you satisfied now?"

"Hardly." Wes said as he walked up to her. "There are probably girls being attacked in dark alleys all over this city."

"But why this specific one at the same time Chrys told us it would be? And what's your problem anyway?" she asked. "She proved who she is."

"Yeah." he whispered.

"What was that?" Faith asked as she folded her arms over her chest. "You got somethin' to say then say it out loud."

"I think you're doing a poor job as a leader." Wes started, suddenly feeling bold. "The decisions you've made thus far could've gotten us all killed. I think that we need someone more capable of leading the team." as he finished talking, Faith did something he didn't expect. She laughed.

"Is that so, Wes?" she asked as she finished chuckling. "Now the truth's finally out. You've been wanting my job since the beginning haven't you?"

"I think that either myself or King could do a better job."

"Well guess what, I never asked for the job in the first place. It was just thrown on me."

"Are you saying that you're going to relinquish leadership to me?" Wesley asked, a little more excited then he should have been.

"No, what I'm saying is that you're fired." she said walking past him and out of the alley, the last of what she had to say echoing behind her. "Get your crap together that's at my house by tomorrow night and get the hell out of town."

To shocked to move, Wesley didn't notice the figure as it sneeked up behind him. Raising up her arm the figure knocked Wes upside the head instantly knocking him unconcious. Picking him up in a firemen's carry she took off with him into the darkness.

Faith's Apartment

An Hour Later

"I still can't believe you're back." Faith was saying as the group all sat together eating pizza and drank some soda.

"Yeah, just as long as you kicked the habit." King said, pointingly looking at her. He was so dissappointed with how she had ended her life the first time, he was a bit skeptical this time around.

"Believe me after the stuff I saw, you can consider my habit kicked." Chrys replied as she took a bite of her pizza, before a sad look appeared on her face. Seeing it, Faith decided to see what was wrong.

"You said the time there was different right?" Faith asked as she nodded her head. "Well, how much time passed and what exactly did you see?"

"Almost a year passed and as far as what I saw...I saw you guys' lives." she said stopping everyone cold.

"What did you say?" King asked as he got over his initial shock.

"I...I didn't see everything." she quickly assured. "Just whatever the Powers saw as important." like the abuse that was handed to Tara and Faith during their lives and the murder of King's parents and the trials he had to go through in life. And not to mention Wesley's... not completing her thought, she looked around the room and noticed the older man wasn't in the room with them. "Hey, where's Wes?"

"You don't have to worry about him coming around again." Faith replied as she took a sip of her pigs blood and took a bite out of her pizza. "Because I fired his ass."

"Faith do you know what you've done!" Chrystal all but shouted as she stood to her feet.

"Yeah, I got rid of a jackass...now what's your problem? Wes didn't even want you here."

"It's not like I gave him much reason to believe in me. I wanted to earn his trust."

"What crawled up your ass?" Faith asked, as she stood to her feet aswell.

"Probably the same thing that crawled up yours. Don't you understand how important Wesley is to our mission? How all of us are important. Now come on, we'll find him and you're gonna apologize."

"You're trippin' yo. I ain't telling, Wesley nothing."

"Yeah you are, now come on!" Chrystal yelled out as she grabbed her jacket and headed for the door. The others walking behind her.

"Damn and I thought I was the boss." Faith whispered as she got up and ran out after them.

Warehouse District

Sametime

Wesley sat gagged and bound to a chair in the middle of a mint warehouse, looking like he had gone a round with Mike Tyson. Coming into full conciousness the vampiress Michelle slowly paced in front of him, then suddenly jumped onto his lap making him let out a muffled scream. Licking two fingers she rubbed the swelling under Wesley's right eye.

"Stay with me baby. Your pain is only gonna last a little bit longer." she said with a devilish smile. As Wesley calmed down a bit, she removed his gag.

"It does...doesn't matter if you kill me or not." Wesley said tiredly as he looked up into her evil brown eyes. "My friends will come for me."

"Friends? Friends you say? Are these the same friends that fired your sorry ass about an hour ago?" she asked at his shocked look. "Now listen gringo, you killed part of my gang, but instead of doing the normal thing, I'll give you a choice. Either I can keep torchering you until you die or you can become like me." she said morphing into her vampiric visage.

Spitting on the floor to one side of her, Wesley opened his eyes up wide, before speaking to her in her native tongue. "Anda la puta que te pari."

Interrupting him, she stuffed the gag back into his mouth and changed back into her human face.

"Death it is then."

* * *

"And you just left him here?" Chrystal asked as she and the gang walked down the dark alley that Faith and Wesley had their argument.

"Hey, he's a grown man so he can handle himself."

"I...I don't think so." Tara spoke as she pointed to a nearby wall. Following her line of vision the saw a fresh splash of blood on the wall and the ground, along with Wesley's glasses.

"Damn...you...you don't think he's dead do you?" King asked as he picked up the blood stained glasses.

"No..." Chrystal replied as she unsteadily touched the wall. "No, we gotta find Wesley fast."

"What's going on?" King asked.

"Michelle." Faith growled as she took a whiff of the air and smelled the scent of her old rival.

* * *

Michelle sat in the open window of the warehouse looking at the bloodstained piece of glass in her hands. With a sigh she let it drop and listened to it shatter on the ground below. Sighing again she jumped off the window sill and walked over to Wesley, who was still tied to the chair, with bloodstains covering his shirt and pants.

"You know I thought that this would be a whole lot more exciting." she said as she rubbed her hands together. "Man you're even more boring when you get your ass kicked."

"Go...go to hell." Wesley murmured as blood and saliva bubbled out of his mouth.

"You first, baby." she said pulling out a wickedly curved knife. Suddenly the door to the warehouse burst from its hinges and Faith and the others slowly walked in. With a smile she took the knife and held it against Wesley's throat.

"Let him go, Michelle." Faith growled, as she looked at Wesley's torn body. 'What have I done?'

"Or what?" Michelle asked, nonchalantly. "You gonna kick me off the team?"

"This is between me and you."

"You're right." she replied as she let Wesley go. "But I think your friends need to meet mine."

With that said, she snapped her fingers and a dozen cloaked demons with scythe's materialized into the room. Seeing that the gang were well armed and could handle themselves, Faith tackled Michelle and they both burst through the window, falling two stories to land on a dumpster lid. As they rolled off of it Michelle started to throw Faith around. As she kept hitting and kicking her, Faith blocked as halfway through this it started to first rain then pour.

* * *

"I'll clear you a line, Chrystal." King said as he ducked a scythe swing and chopped off the head of the nearest demon, with his axe. "You get, Wesley."

Attacking a couple of demons herself, Chrystal weaved through the demonic forces until she got to Wesley. Making sure nothing was behind her, she crouched down before him and started to cut through his restraints.

"I'm sorry." came his half concious voice, as he struggled to look up at her. "I'm sorry, I didn't trust you."

"Ssshhh... don't talk. I got you now."

As she helped him to his feet, she looked up to see a scythe blade headed towards her head. Knowing it was to late to dodge, she closed her eyes and awaited her devastation. One that never came. Opening her eyes, she saw Tara using her magic to keep the demon in place. With one smooth stroke King lobbed off it's head, turning it to dust and ending the fight with the Reapers.

"Alright let's get Faith and get the hell..." before he could finish his sentence they all heard maniacal laughter. Looking about the room, a cloud of darkness swarm through the room, landing in front of them. As it fully stood up they saw that it was a seven foot tall cloaked demon, with a large sickle. "out of here."

* * *

The two vampiresses slammed each other around and Faith managed to kick the Jackal knife away from Michelle, before tossing her onto the dumpster. Using her demonic strength she took a hold of one of Michelle's wrists and tossed her away again. Getting back to her feet she tried to hit Faith, but she avoided it, so she instead sweeped the feet out from under her.

"I want that knife back, chica." Michelle growled out as she spat rain water out of her mouth.

"Then come and get it." Faith taunted back.

Taking the challenge Michelle swung at her, but she kept ducking them, so instead she kicked her in the gut. Faith came back and hit her, but Michelle hit back with a devastating left hook, before tossing Faith into a wall. She then jumped to kick her again as she got up, but she intercepted her kick and pulled her down to the ground. Straddling her, Faith took out a stake and hovered it over her chest, the both of them struggling for control of it.

"It's finally time to end this little game of ours." Faith said as her ears picked up the not so distant sound of something laughing.

"You gonna waste your time with me, or are you gonna save your friends?" Michelle asked, with a smirk.

Knowing that she didn't have enough time to finish the job, Faith stood to her feet and jumped on the dumpster. Turning she saw that Michelle was already long gone. With an inner growl she scaled the side of the building and as she looked into the room from the window she saw a towering demon standing over her friends ready to swing it's weapon. What happened next was the scariest and fastest thing Faith had ever done.

All that she could remember at the time was the Jackal knife pulsating with a soft glow as it let loose a surge of power throughout her body. The next thing that she remembered happening was she flung herself into the window at super speed, making everything around her seem as though it were moving at a snails pace. Dropping down to the floor, she leg sweeped the demon and as it was falling back, she stabbed it through the chest with the knife, making the demon cry out in pain before crumbling into dust.

"Whoa." Faith whispered to herself as she looked down at the knife, the others looking at her in awe.

Faith's Apartment

Later That Night

"Are you comfortable?" Faith asked as she placed a pillow under Wesley's head and leg. After taking him to the hospital to get checked up, she brought him back to her place since it was closet, so he could relax and get some sleep.

"Yes...thank you." he replied with a grimace.

"Listen, Wes we need to talk." Faith started as she sat down on her coffee table. "I'll listen to you guys' suggestions, but I need you to understand how hard it is for me being the boss, but that's what I am. The boss. I know some of my decisions seem crazy, but I'm doing the best I can with what I got."

"I...I understand that now."

"Good, because that's as close as you're gonna get with getting an apology out of me." she replied, with a smile as she stood up and started to walk away.

"Faith."

"Yeah?" she asked, turning back to him. Reaching up, he took her new knife out of her side sheathe and put it down on the table. "When I wake up, I want to examine that."

Tara's Room

"I...I...hope you don't mind us sharing a room?" Tara said as she handed the slightly younger girl some blankets.

"Believe me, I've had worse." she replied as she put the blankets down on her cot. Looking around the room she saw the it was devoid of true personal objects except a few wiccan artifacts and books and a photo of the Faith in the King Investigations team. "And thanks for having my back at the warehouse."

"N-no problem." Tara replied meekly.

"Tara can I ask you a personal question?" Chrystal asked, as the wiccan nodded. "When are you going to tell King that you're a lesbian?"

"W-what?"

"I'm not trying to offend you." she continued hurriedly. "It's just that, I've been watching you guys for a long time and King is in love with you. And I do mean head over hills in love. I think the sooner you tell him, the better it'll be on his heart."

"I...I'll think about it." Tara said as she turned off the light and layed down on her bed. "Can I ask you something now?"

"You know you can ask me anything."

"W-will Faith ever...love me...the way that I love her?"

Giving her a sad look, Chrystal lowered her head and said the only thing that she could at the moment.

"Good night, Tara."

Vergil's Apartment

Sametime

"So how was your little adventure, without me?" Vergil asked as Michelle entered the living room, dripping wet from the rain water.

"Not as good, as I thought it would." she replied as she threw her jacket on the floor.

"The Slayer interfered didn't she?" he asked. Taking her growl as a yes, he continued. "Don't worry soon the Slayer will see what a real vampire is. Now come on let's go to bed."

"But, I'm all dirty."

"Not as dirty as you're about to be." he said taking her hand.


	13. Chapter 12 Days Of Darkness

A/N Takes place a month after chapter 11. Also I hope you like the opening fight scene because I had to sit down and watch Vergil's fight in devil may cry 3 over and over again to get some of the sequences right. If you've played the game you'll know what I mean. Also this chapter marks a small guest appearance from someone in the Angelverse. And lastly this is the start of the days of darkness saga.

Chapter 12

Days Of Darkness

Demon Dimension

The sky was as red as blood itself, even as an unseen thunder boomed in the distance. As lightning crossed the dark abyss it hit a large cathedral type building on the long metal pole that stuck up from it.

"Man this place is mad spooky." Michelle said as she looked around her new environment. Creepy shadows seemed to cascade off of everything and even though she was a vampire, she had to admit that she was scared shitless.

"This is like walking into a candy shop to me, compared to what I've seen." Vergil muttered to himself as he glanced around. "The reason, I've brought you here is because today is your final training session from me. At your current condition you're still no match for the Slayer, but you can kill almost any other higher level demon. If you survive this test today, I will perform a spell along with giving you a taste of my demon blood. When that happens you'll become almost as powerful as me."

"So you saying I can't take you now?" she asked leaning up to kiss him. With a frown, he shoved something into her hands. Looking down she saw that it was a sheathe and a katana similar to his own, the only difference being that along the shaft of the deadly blade were ancient looking runes.

"It's called Ravager and since you lost your other weapon, I put a spell on this one so you can summon it at any time. Now good luck." Vergil said as he crouched down, touched the floor and teleported to higher ground.

"What did you say?" she asked as she sheathed the sword and looked around. There was just something almost hypnotic about her new sword. "Vergil? Vergil where are you?" as she asked that question she heard a rustling of wings.

As the night went silent, she heard the brief humming of something that sounded as if it were teleporting. Thinking it was Vergil, she watched out of the corner of her eyes as human like figures emerged from the ground. Their bodies were goat like, with white fur and patterns of red spots on their forearms, shins and upper face. Above these creatures pitch black eyes, stood twisted crimson horns and in their hands they wielded scythes with flaming blades.

Unafraid, out of the corner of her eyes she saw even more of these things were emerging along the stairway of the bloody cathedral. Putting her hand on the pommel of her sword, it telepathically spoke to her, telling her what she was up against. They were called Abyss demons. As they started to encircle her, three of them leapt up at her with animalistic cries, as they aimed their razor sharp blades at her. As a scythe's blade drew near her head, she swung her scabbard out and blocked what would've been her death.

Knocking the demon away, with superhuman strength, she drew her blade, and sensed an Abyss behind her. Twisting around she made an upwards slash and the Abyss fell into halves, even as she spun Ravager around in her hands. As the razor sharp blade slashed out an Abyss lost a leg, another one was slit in half and the last one wobbled on unsturdy legs before its head slid off it's body.

Seeing the bodies hit the floor, Michelle wiped Ravager's sharp edge on the scabbard while slowly sheathing it. Behind her however, the sounds of more Abysses teleporting assaulted her ears. Closing her eyes she could practically feel as one of them jumped into the air to bring down its scythe. Drawing Ravager once more, she swiftly cut off the beasts head and watched as it hit the floor and disintegrated into dust.

A second charged at her and she snapped out a sidekick to greet it, while at the same time impaling her sword into the head of one of the demons. Seeing one about

to strike, she jumped out of the way and executed a perfect rainbow kick to it's neck, slamming it to the ground. Jumping up again she spun around and took the heads of the nearest demons around her, and watched as they quickly exploded into dust.

Ducking and dodging, while at the same time fending off the scythe blows, she did another spin splitting more of the demons in horizontal halves.There was a outerworldly roar behind her, that was followed by the sound of metal passing through flesh and bone. Turning to see the damage she had done, she saw her sword blade protruding out of the creatures skull.

Thinking it was the last one, Michelle watched as six more Abysses materialized from the ground. Taking her sword out of the demons skull , she ran forward with a growl, blade hitting flesh as she delved through the score of demons. Running past all of them, breathing heavily, she held the blade over the opening of the scabbard. For a moment everything, even the night itself seemed frozen, but as she shoved the sword in it's sheath, the Abysses split apart.

"I must admit that was an interesting fight." Vergil said as he walked up behind her.

"So...so did I pass your little test?" she asked a bit out of breath, as she turned to him.

"Not quite." he said with a snap of his fingers.

"Fuck." was all Michelle could say as her eyes bugged out from seeing a huge demon step out of the advancing darkness. It was over ten feet tall and made mostly out of metal, sort of like a huge oil lantern. And giant wrecking balls were where the hands should have been.

"I'll be back for you later, I have to make sure that the Slayer stays distracted." he said before teleporting away.

"I hope the old saying's true." she whispered to herself as she swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."

With that said she raised up her sword to eye level and ran forward as the thing threw out one of it's wrecking ball like fists.

Charlesmartin Grande Hotel

Vergil sat dressed in his Mister Gil personna, which was a dark suit and slicked back hair, at one of the tables in the hotel's restaurant awaiting whom he had hired to do a job for him. Not having to wait long, he saw as girl with long, wavy brown hair, wearing tight red leather pants and a matching tube top walked down an aisle between the tables, pulling up some long black gloves. All the men turned their heads to watch her as she walked by and not paying much attention to them she sat down in a chair opposite from him.

"I heard that you were the best under Mr. Lansing's tutiledge, Miss Raiden." Vergil said as he adjusted his glasses. "I never knew that you were so...young."

"Looks can fool you." she replied with a cocky smile. "Now stop the crap and stop calling me, Miss Raiden. My name is Gwen."

"Very well...Gwen. This is what I'd like for you to acquire for me." he said sliding a small picture upside down to her. Flipping it over she saw a picture of a brown coin like object that had a different picture for either side of it. One side had a picture of an ancient symbol of the sun and the other side was the symbol for the moon.

"Hmmm...this looks very much like a piece of crap to me." Gwen said as she pocketed the photo.

"Be that as it may, it's..."

"Blah, blah, polysyllabic blah." she replied cutting him off as a waiter walked by. "I need a drink. Waiter? I'll take a redcoat, up, double the voddy, and can I get one of those little swizzly things? I just love those." she said waiting until he left before turning back to Vergil. "You were saying?"

"I was saying that maybe I made a mistake in hiring you. I see now that you're to young to handle such a delicate job." he replied standing to his feet and picking up his briefcase. "Enjoy your drink Gwen. I'll just hire someone whose a little more professional."

"Wait." she said with a sigh. "I can do this job."

"Then I'd recommend acting a little more professional then." he said sitting back down.

"Alright."

'I bet this is her first job.' Vergil thought to himself. 'Rookie.'

'Great. I bet he thinks I'm a rookie now.' Gwen thought to himself. 'Well technically I am because this is my first job.' "Okay so where is this thing-a-ma-bob at anyway?"

"It's at the museum of Boston. With a lady of your talents it should be a piece of cake."

"I have one more question?" she asked as they both stood up. "You look agile and fast. Why didn't you get this thing yourself?"

"Let's just say, I don't want to arouse suspicion with my enemies. Now bring that aritifact to me as soon as possible and the money we agreed upon is yours."

Boston Park

Later That Day

Balloons and paper lanterns were hanging from trees as people walked around, some in costume, some holding carnival prizes. A group of cheerleaders waved pompoms and a group of Chinese men danced with a large paper dragon. Flags of many nations hung from a wire above them as soft sad music played over faint crowd noises.

"I'll take that little witch stuffed toy." King was saying to the booth owner as he put down the BB gun rifle. He had just hit all of the duck targets and wanted to win something nice for his date for today.

"Here you go, sir." the older man said as he handed the green haired, pointed hat wearing witch of to him. "Next up..."

"Hey here you go." he said as he handed it over to Tara.

"Th...thanks." she said with a smile as they sat down on a bench together.

"It's been a long time since, I've been to the fair. I remember the last time I was here was with..." pushing the hurtful memories of his family being killed away, he decided to change the subject. "Anyway, I'm glad you finally decided to go out with me."

"We go out together all the time."

"Yeah, but with everybody else." he said inching closer to her and taking her hand. "But now we're alone. That wasn't meant to make you sad." he said catching her look. "Tara what's wrong?"

"I...I"

"Tara whatever it is, you can tell me." he said giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "I'm a big boy and I can handle it."

"I...King I know that you love me." she started, surprised at herself for getting out that much. Swallowing the lump in her throat she continued. "Well I...I love you too, but only as a friend."

"But maybe one day that can all change." he said making her look into his eyes.

"It can't." she replied, a tear stinging her eyes. "I can never love you the way that you love me. I'm...I'm a lesbian."

Before he had time to even have a shocked look on his face, his cellphone started to ring. Answering it, he listened to what the caller had to say on the other end before hanging up.

"That was Faith, she said Chrystal had a vision. We gotta go and meet them."

"King..."

"I don't feel like talking right now. Let's just go..."

Gwen's Hotel

Sametime

Getting dressed in all black Gwen started to pack some repelling hooks in a black bag. After testing a small flashlight she slid it into a pocket on her sleeve. Hooking a rope to her body harness, she zipped up a case of locksmith tools, slid a shiny dagger into her boot and settled the strap of a shoulder bag in place. Picking up a small metal cylinder she walked to the flat screen panel of her computer and touched a button that turned the screen into a mirror. Opening the cylinder she turned its base and looked down at the lipstick. Leaning forward she applied it, before giving her reflection a last look and turning to leave with a small smile.

The Sewers

Later That Night

Faith, King, Chrystal, Tara, and Wesley walked down a long stairway into a huge cavernous chamber full of long slender pillars. They stopped at the bottom looking over where people in black robes were fighting others wearing red in front of a big, round, slimy demon from Chrystal's vision, spanning the space between two pillars.

"I'm sorry I had to cut you guys' date short." Faith whispered to King as they stopped behind a boulder.

"Actually, I'm glad you did." he replied as he twirled the base of his axe in his hands. Giving Tara a sad look, one that she returned, Faith turned back to the task at hand.

"So, what do you think Wes? That a thrall demon like you said?"

"Yes, because of Chrystal's vivid description I was able to determine what it was before we left the office." he said giving the young visionary a smile.

"So we kill the Big Ugly, it un-thralls the groupies and they stop killin' each other?"

"Absolutely. Yes. That's the theory. Thrall demons can be tricky."

"Well, at least they're killing each other and not..." before Chrystal could finish her statement the slimy demon spotted them.

"Intruders!" it yelled out as both black and red robes turned from fighting each other to stare at Faith's group.

"...us."

With a war scream the three groups charged each other and a big fight ensued. Ducking a southpaw, Faith got knocked down from behind by one of the red robes. As she rolled back up, she started waling on the guy, oblivious to everything else.

"Faith watch my back, I'm going after this thing." King said as he knocked a groupie away. "Faith?" he asked as he looked around to see her still attacking the red robe groupie. "Damn."

Seeing an opening Chrystal ran up ax raised to clobber the thrall demon, but was hauled back by one of it's disciples. Running to help, Wesley hit the guy holding Chrystal over the head, freeing her.Taking a chance, King made his way through the fight and sunk his ax into the demon's head with a sickening crunch and all the fighting stopped, except for Faith still waling on the guy laying on the floor.

"Faith, it's over." King said as he pulled her off of him. "Stop!" As he let her go and walked back over to the others, Faith looked down at her victim and wiped a bloody hand across her sweaty forehead.

"Faith you've become increasingly violent these last couple of weeks." Wesley started as the groupies filed out of the room, two carrying the one Faith had just beaten nearly to death.

"No...no I just lost it a little, it ain't nothing to get worried about." she replied sleepily.

"He's right Faith. Everysince you got that..."

"I said I'm fine!" she yelled back making the younger girl tremble and drop down to one knee. "Hey, I'm sorry I yelled. I was just..."

"No...noooooo." Chrystal yelled out as she saw Gwen at the museum, a wierd looking coin, and a giant obelisk with dark magick coming from it in her vision. "We gotta get out of here."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Faith replied as her ears perked up. Tilting her head to the side she watched as a curved blade embedded itself in the door frame beside her. Turning she saw one of the oddist looking things since starting this journey. It was eight puppet looking demons with renaisance era type clothes on and knives twirling in their hands.

As they walked up to the doorway, flames of red colored faces appeared around it, dancing furiously. Ignoring it, King tried to walk through it only for the faces to come together as a hand and try to grab him.

"Fuck!" he yelled out as he jumped back.

"Looks like we fight then." Faith said with a grin as she took out her Jackal knife.

Starting the fight off, King swung his axe to knock back one of his opponents. Ducking a sword swipe from another Bloody Marionette, he did an overhead chop that lobbed off it's head. As it went down, his eyes widened as he saw the one that was behind it with a revolver. Leaning back, as it pulled the trigger he watched as the demon that was sneaking up behind him shattered like glass on the floor. Going back to back with him, Chrystal chopped off the one that had the guns' hand, before knocking off it's head.

"You okay, stud?" she asked as she saw more of the demons headed their way.

"Yeah, but I'll never look at another puppet the same way again."

* * *

Standing behind Wesley, Tara couldn't help but stare at King. She had severely hurt his feelings only moments before and even though they were fighting for their lives she couldn't help but think about him. All of her life, the men in her life had either beaten or hurt her in someway, but King had always treated her with kindness, warmth, and love. It was strange to finally be on the other side of the coin in hurting someone, even though she didn't mean to.

Besides she couldn't help who her heart wanted her to be with. And that person was Faith. Even if she didn't feel the same way. Hearing a scream, she snapped out of her musings and saw that Wesley was just slashed across the arm, by one of their assailants. Tapping into her magick powers she made the one that cut him, chop off it's own head.

"Thank you." Wes said as he clutched his arm in pain.

"There's only a few left guys!" Faith yelled out over the fighting.

"Are you..."

"I'll be fine." Wes replied as he picked up his sword. "Now let's finish this."

Faith, Wesley, Chrystal, and King took one demon each while Tara danced into the fray with sword in hand swinging at the backs of the fighting demons. On her second try she stabbed Wesley's demon just as it was about to jump on his downed form. Seeing it fall to the ground, she gave him a hand up. Faith, Chrystal, and King continued to fight their adversaries, all three doing about equally well.

* * *

Faith's knife layed between three piles of dust as the team sat with their back's leaned against King's truck. After the battle was over, they were to tired to move as they went outside.

"I'm so sick of dust." Chrystal said as she fanned the demon dust off of her body.

"I can't lift my arm all the way." Faith complained.

"Those demons did a number on my ribs." replied King.

"I'm afraid I threw my back out again." Wesley said as he pulled a smashed pager out of his back pocket, before dropping it. "Bloody marvelous!"

"Aw man, I got demon gunk all over my new outfut." Chrystal complained again as King and Faith gave her a look. "What?"

"I think this was a diversion." Faith said as she tiredly stood to her feet.

"How do you figure?" Wesley asked.

"Because we were attacked by those demons just after Chrys had her vision."

"What was it about anyway?" King asked.

"There was...there was this girl at the museum."

"Boy that's scary as hell already." Faith interrupted.

"Like I was saying, there was this girl at the museum stealing some kinda coin looking thing."

"Can you be more specific?" Wesley asked as Tara took him by the arm and helped him to his feet.

"One side of the coin looks like a sun and the other side looks like a moon."

"But what's so important about it?" Faith asked, picking up her knife.

"Because it opens up a box." Chrys said suddenly feeling a cold chill going down her spine. "I don't know what's inside of it but whatever it is, is the most evil thing I've ever felt."

"Alright, Chrystal get Wes back to our apartment and patch him up. Tara you..."

"Go with them." King interrupted. "Me and Faith are gonna check out the museum ourselves. We'll report back when we find something out."

Giving King, then Tara a look, Faith nodded her head in agreement.

"You heard my, bro now let's move."

Boston Museum

Later That Night

Gwen scaled a wall with the help of her repelling hook and as she touched the ground, jogged over to an electric box and picked the lock on it. She then picked out two wires and partly stripped the insulation on them. Pulling off her right glove she took a hold of the bared wires and sent out a small electric discharge making the lights on the cameras inside the building go dark.

Closing the box she walked over to a metal door set in the wall and layed her hand over the red light bar above the lock and after a moment it turned green and the door opened. With a smile she entered. If she had stayed a moment longer as the door closed behind her, she would have seen that there were figures climbing over the fence.

"Come on." Faith whispered as she took the lead.

"Damn. This is so much harder than it looks on Spiderman."

As they made it over the fence and to the electrical box, Faith ripped the cover off and sorted through the tangle of wires inside for a moment. With a shrug she selected a small handful and pulled them out, making the lights in the parking garage go dark.

"That's my, Faith always with the violence."

"Quiet you." she replied as they walked through the building and stopped in front of the open doorway into the vault. Pulling out a can of aerosol she sprayed the air in the doorway and watched as a network of green light beams became visible. Spraying to much the barred security gate came down in front of her face.

Before it could go all the way down, she took a hold of the bottom cross bar and started to lift the gate. Suddenly she was showered with electrical sparks and a ceiling panel inside the vault opened, and Gwen's head and upper torso dropped down through it. Seeing the beams Gwen reached down a hand and all the light beams arced up and out of her way, before she dropped down into the cleared space.

"What the fuck?" Faith asked herself, struggling to lift the door. "What - are you?"

"I'm a freak." Gwen replied holding her hand over the palm recognition scanner. Suddenly there was an electrical discharge and the lock opened. "What the hell do you think?" she said walking into the vault.

"Oh, no you don't." King said rolling under the door. As he got to his feet, he saw that Gwen was standing before him with a glove off.

"Sorry Denzel." she whispered as she gave him an electricity charged smack in the face, the force of which knocked him off his feet and into a wall where he collasped on the floor.

"King!" Faith yelled out with animalistic rage as she lifted the door all the way up. Running inside, she crouched down beside him and held his head. 'He can't be dead.' she thought to herself as he suddenly coughed. "King?"

"I'm...I'm fine." he said wheezily as he sat up. His hand then went to his chest where he picked up the protection charm Tara had given him for his birthday a week before. It was slightly scorched in a couple of places, but he was sure that it was the only thing that kept him alive. Making sure that he was alright, Faith ran to the vault and looked inside only to find that Gwen was gone.

An Abandoned Church

Later That Night

"It's about time you showed up, Gwen." Vergil said as he walked up behind her as she entered the church. "I was beginning to think that something happened to you."

"I just ran into a little trouble." she said with a false smile.She had only given that black guy a small jolt, but she still hoped that he was alright. The last time she had hit someone...no she didn't want to think about that. "Now here's your damn token."

"And here's your 700,000 dollars as we agreed." he said as he handed her a briefcase and she the coin. Opening it up, she smiled as she saw the green of one hundred and five hundred dollar bills.

"Nice doing business with you." she said as she turned to leave. "Be seeing you."

"Gwen, wait. I'd like for you to stay and witness this." Vergil said as he walked towards the darkness. As her eyes finally adjusted she saw a large rectangular chunk of rock, with wierd looking runes etched all over it.

"I'm sorry, but like my dad used to say. You have to always take your money and run."

"No...I insist on you staying." he said as he placed the moon side of the coin into a circular hole on the front of the rock. Once in place, a bright light emanated through the cracks in the rock and the front of it opened like a pair of twin gates to allow a being inside of it to be seen.

It was a man with long flowing black hair, pale skin, arms crossed over his chest wearing victorian era clothes. And that's when Gwen noticed that this big hunk of rock served as a coffin, for whatever this man or thing was. Before she knew what was happenning, Vergil had slit his wrist and placed his arm over the things mouth, letting some of his blood trickle into his mouth.

"Do you know what you're looking at, Gwen?" Vergil asked, as he walked up beside her.

"Yeah, my sweet ass leaving." she said as she turned to leave.

"And it is sweet." she heard another voice say. Turning she saw that the man had opened his eyes, uncrossed his arms and stepped out of the box. "I've been around nearly as long as earth has, so I should know."

"Gwen, I'd like to introduce you to Morlun. He's the world's first vampire."

"My lady." he said with a bow as he leaned down and kissed her gloved hand. "And who might you be halfbreed?" he asked as he looked at Vergil. "Something about you seems familiar."

"My name is, Vergil."

"Vergil, I'll remember that." he said as he looked off into the distance sensing something. "I have been gone far too long. There is something out there that nearly eclipses my own power."

"What you're sensing is the, Slayer."

"The Slayer?!" Morlun asked startled. "Before I left this world, they had limited powers compared to me."

"This one is special. She's an Ascended Slayer." Vergil told him, causing Morlun to smile.

"Well I can't very well face her on an empty stomach." he said as his eyes flickered red, while he turned to Gwen. Before she could run off Morlun reached out to touch her skin only to get shocked by a large amount of electricity.

Looking down at his smoldering hands, he smiled at her before hitting her with a blow that hurled her 50 feet out of the church. Landing outside on the ground in a crumpled heap, she sat up and saw Morlun watching her. Removing her gloves, preparing to do battle, electricity arced between her fingers but when she got to her feet, she found Morlun to be gone.

"That's it." she said, gathering her briefcase of money. "I'm getting the hell out of here." with that said she ran out into the darkness.

Faith In The King Investigations

Sametime

Wesley sat behind the counter with a big, old book in front of him, as Chrystal and King looked at some papers. With a yawn Faith came in and plopped down on the sofa.

"Was this what you saw in your vision?" Wesley asked as he showed Chrystal a picture of the moon/sun coin.

"Yeah... what does it open?" she asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, but the text seems to indicate that it's to imprison something. What I'm not entirely sure about, so I'll have to call my contacts at the Council."

"Well, whatever it is, we'll kick it's ass soon enough." Faith voiced as she turned over on the couch.

"I did however find out what, Faith's problem is."

"What do you mean, my problem?" she asked as she poked her head up.

"It seems that the origin of your bad attitude and violent streak as of late are the result of your new weapon of choice." he said as they both looked down at her knife, that sat on the table.

"What..."

"When I ran a search on the symbol and design of the dagger, I found that it was made out of the sword called the Blades of Chaos weilded by an ancient warrior called Kratos. He was on a mission to kill the god of war and..."

"Wes will you just get to the point." Faith said, more then a little irritated.

"Alright." he said a little dissappointed. All of his hard research meant nothing to her. "About half a century after his death, his tomb was uncovered and they used the metal from his swords to make other weapons.

"Still I don't see what's so bad about that."

"What's bad about it is that the original swords had a curse of them, so that the bearer of it would one day go mad and kill themselves."

"So you think that, that's gonna happen to..." Faith stopped talking as she suddenly sensed something. Walking to the window, her eyes glowed a soft white. Grabbing her duster she headed towards the door.

"Faith, what's up?" King asked as he ran after her.

"I gotta check something out." she replied absently. "Watch after the others."

Looking back at the others, who stared in confusion King did as she requested and sat back down.

Construction Site

Feeling eerily cold, Faith hiked up the collar of her duster as she walked past a dumpster and saw a young girls body lying in a pool of blood on the ground. Looking visibly upset but not saying anything, she took a moment to contemplate the situation, when Morlun attacked her from behind, knocking her to the ground. Turning the fall into a roll, Faith crawled away to crouch down beside the dumpster.

"So you are what has my senses on high alert?" he asked with a smile. "I was expecting more."

"You know that's the same thing, Fifty Below said to me." Faith said, standing up. "Right before I destroyed him."

"Impossible." Morlun replied with a sneer as the two started to circle one another. "A general as powerful as him, could never be defeated by the likes of you."

"You're right. It was a team effort."

"Well, you're alone now child. Do you think you can take old Morlun?"

Cutting the banter short, Faith ran forward in a blindingly fast attack, but found that he was an even match for her. When she kicked, he ducked. When she punched, he blocked. Seeing an opening in her wild fighting style he punched her in the face, then in the stomach, making her fall to the ground face first, before he picked her up and tried to choke her.

"I'm a vampire remember." she wheezed out before spitting blood in his face. Startling him,she managed to escape his clutches and run away, hiding in the nearby factory. With another smile he licked the blood off of his face, growled, and headed after her.

Faith ran into the factory and looked around for somewhere to hide, still holding her jaw. Out of everyone that had ever hit her in her life, Morlun had punched her the hardest. If he had hit her harder then what he had, he would have probably decapitated her.

Hearing a noise behind her, she turned to run not making a fast flight since she was limping. Ignoring the pain, she went deeper into the building, which was very industrial in nature with many vertical metal pipes and valves, just as Morlun followed her to the building and looked around for her.

"Why are you hiding from me, Faith?" he asked, getting the name from what Vergil had told him about her. "You're an ascended being. You're supposed to fight me head on."

Taking this as an advantage, she surprised him from behind and smacked him in the head with a large metal pipe, but to her dismay she doesn't even manage to knock him down. Fighting back he wrestled the pipe from her hand when she swung it at him again. Not liking to use weapons he threw the pipe to the ground and they returned to martial arts.

He punched her and as she bent over at the waist, kicked her in the chest, sending her crashing into a metal support beam. He then came at her again, and she dropped to the ground to avoid his fist. Standing, he punched and kicks her, finally causing her to double over in pain as he punched her ribs. With a slight spin he punched her in the head, sending her to the ground again. Picking her up, he backhanded her in the face, then punched her so hard, she flew 25 feet across the room.

"Now why was I expecting more of a fight?" he asked more of himself as he ran toward her. Looking around she noticed a pulley hoisting a pallet of metal beams.

Kicking a control lever for the pulley, she sent the beams crashing on top of Morlun as he came towards her. Still lying on the ground, Faith hid her face as they landed near her. Getting to her feet, she started to run away slowly, still limping, but stopped and turned around. Her eyes then widened as she saw him rising from the pile of metal beams, unhurt. With a shake of his head, he leaped out of the rubble and sprinted after her.

In no time at all, he caught up to her, grabbed her from behind and threw her into a concrete wall. She stepped back, still standing, as he literally crawled up the wall to gain momentum and height to kick her in the face, knocking her to the ground. Not losing stride he kicked her in the head again before grabbing her arm and throwing her through a concrete block wall, making it crumbled down on top of her.

"I see now that I had nothing to worry about." Morlun said as he crouched down before the rubble. "Maybe the other Slayer will be more fun." he said as he sensed her and literally flew off into the night.

As the roof finished caving in, Faith took an unneccessary breath before blackness claimed her.

Moments later King lifted off part of the metal roof that had fallen on top of Faith, revealing her body lying there still on the ground in a pile of rubble, her face and body covered in blood. He had became worried about her and had reluctantly asked Tara to perform a locater spell to find her.

"I found her!" he yelled out to the others, who were searching through the rubble. "Faith...Faith talk to me." he said as he cradled her head in his hands. After coughing up blood, Faith managed to open up a swollen eye and look up at him.

"King?"

"Yeah, babe. I got you. You're gonna be alright."

"No...no...she's not safe." she replied on the verge of passing out.

"Who...whose not safe?"

"Buffy...I gotta warn her. I gotta go back to Sunnydale, before he kills her." with that message given, Faith passed out before King could get anymore out of her.

"Pack your bags everybody." King said as he stood to his feet cradling Faith in his arms. "We're going to the Dale."


	14. Chapter 13 Going Back To The Dale

A/N I need to clarify something for those that haven't read seraphim2db's story Son of Sparda. For this timeline in this story, Xander, Kendra, and Trish aren't in Sunnydale but rather in an alternate dimension with Dante. Read that story and you'll see what I mean.

Chapter 13

Going Back To The Dale

Teleporting back into the Bloody Cathedral demon dimension, Vergil looked around before a glow surrounded his body changing him back into his spiked up hair and baby blue military jacket. Reaching out with his senses he tried to pick up Michelle's power signature, but to no avail.

"Hmmm, I guess she failed." he whispered, not conveying the slight hinge of sadness that he felt. Feeling a great power rising up beside him, he turned only to be savagely tackled to the ground. Before he could activate his power, he looked up and saw that it was Michelle that was pinning down his arms.

"You left me here for three days." she growled out with barely controlled anger, as rain water dripped from her hair and onto his face.

"I thought that you could use the extra training." he explained. 'Hmmm, it seemed that her power has increased.'

"What the hell took you so long?" she asked as she got off of him.

"Never mind that, have you completed what you were sent here to do?" he questioned as they both heard the sound of metal crunching. Looking up the dark street they both saw a rag tag demon, with gears turning all about him, slowly lumbering down the road towards them. Upon spotting them it let out an earth shattering roar before continuing it's trek.

"Just one more." the vampiress replied as she crouched down low and put her hand on her sword's pommel. Running forward, she unsheathed her sword but instead of using it, she grabbed it's scabbard and threw it like a javelin, embedding it in the things forehead. As it fell to the street dead, she stabbed her sword home into it's sheathe, just as the demon crumbled into nothingness. "Now, I'm done."

"Good, now we can start the ritual." and with that said, he grabbed her close and teleported back into their rightful dimension.

Streets Of LA

"It's still no use." Wesley said aloud as he hung up his cellphone.

"You still can't get in contact, with that Giles guy?" Chrystal asked as King took a sharp turn down another street. They had been trying to call, Giles and even Buffy for the last couple of days to warn them of the danger that was headed their way, but the phone would just keep ringing.

"No, which leads me to worry that something might've happened to them."

"You worry to much, English." King said a little tiredly. "You said that Giles guy wasn't answering his phone since a couple of days ago. Well it would've been impossible for that Morlun guy to reach it to Sunny D that fast. So Muffy and Giles are probably just busy."

"It's Buffy." Wes corrected. "And maybe you're right. I'm probably just being paranoid."

"You okay, King?" Chrystal asked as she looked at the slightly older man. "You've been driving for a long time. Maybe one of us should..."

"I'm fine, Chrys." King replied, closing his eyes.

"King!!!!" he heard one of them yell out. Snapping his eyes open he saw that he was dangerously close to the sidewalk. Not having time to fully swerve and get back on the street, he let go of the wheel and braced for impact.

His ears ringing and the sounds of the roaring of Faith's motorcycle and the blare of the truck's horn assaualted King's ears as he took his head off of the steering wheel. Looking around woozily, he nearly fell out of his truck as Faith opened the driver's side door.

"Is everybody alright?"

"Yes." Wesley answered as he looked around at the group. "We're a little worse for wear but we're alright."

"What the hell happened?"

"It was me." King replied with a groan. "I fell asleep at the wheel."

"Your truck is totaled so we're gonna have to find another way to get you guys to the, Dale." Faith said as she glanced back at the front end of it that was wrapped around the light pole.

"I'm sorry, I..."

"We're all tired anyway so we'll find somewhere to sleep for tonight, rent a truck in the morning and head out."

"You're taking this better then I thought." Chrys said with a smirk. "You know getting your butt whooped and then us getting in this accident so we can't get to Sunnydale faster. I thought you'd be a lot more angrier then this."

"You little..." before Faith could finish her statement she looked off into the distance and sensed some demonic presences. "King how tired are you?"

"I'm up all the way now." he replied giving her a questioning look. "What's up?"

"Just get on my bike." she said as she reached into the bed of his truck and lightly tossed him his axe. "Guys me and King will be right back."

* * *

Two blocks up in an abandoned warehouse, a group of teens were fighting vampires, and actually doing some damage by the stint of sheer numbers and co-operation. One vamp got nailed by a stake gun mounted on the pick-up truck, which had broke through a loading bay door, as he was about to kill one of the boys. Another one, fighting against five teens, got beheaded from an axe wielded by a black youth. The guy with the stake gun nailed another vamp that was lunging at him in mid air, then started kicking the jammed gun A vamp broke one of the boys necks then ran, while a fifth got staked behind him.

"Where are all these vamps coming from?" a young black girl asked as she went back to back with the black youth with the axe.

"I don't know, just keep fighting." he replied as he cut the head off of another vamp that ran their way. 'Damn, we could use some help though.'

As he said that they all heard the loud roaring of a motorcycle. Seeing the lights of one by the door, they backed away as Faith and King on their motorcycle came sliding in sideways under the garage door, knocking one of the vampires down. The vamp picked himself back up and looked at Faith admiringly as she took off her helmet. With a smile of her own she looked at the helmet in her hands, back at the vamp and then smashed the helmet in its face. Tossing said helmet into the hands of another vampire, she sent out a side kick that knocked it to the musty ground.

Woozily getting to his feet, King was a blur of action as he chopped off a vampires hand, only for a second later for it's head to follow. Hearing the sound of a vampire dusting behind him, he turned to see a vamp crumbling into dust. As it dissapated, he saw an eerily familiar girl watching him curiously. Seeing a demon sneaking up behind her, he pushed her to the side and dealt justice with the sharp blade of his axe.

"Thanks." the girl said with a wide smile.

"No prob." he replied as Faith ran up to them, after the fighting was all over.

"You guys alright?" she asked as the group of teenagers walked towards them.

"No." King said as he turned to see the black youth with the axe. "No things ain't alright."

With a frown on both of their faces King and the leader of the gang of teens got into each others face angrily and both breathing heavily and twirling their weapons around. After a few seconds King was the first to lose the staring contest and put a wide smile on his face, followed by a snicker.

"Damn bro it's been a long time." he said as he shook the black youth's hand and pulled him into a small hug.

"Who the hell you tellin'?"

"Am, I missing something here?" Faith asked as she walked up. "You guys know each other?"

"We more then know each other." King said as he turned around. "Faith, this is my cousin Gunn. Gunn this is Faith." he properly introduced the two.

"Is that the girl you were telling me about a long time ago?" Gunn whispered as he looked at Faith up and down. "Damn..."

"King?" the girl asked as she ran into his arms. Looking down at her he tried to place her face and with widened eyes it came to him in a flash.

"Alonna? Whoa girl look at you. You're a little woman now."

"That's what happens when people don't see each other for a long time." she replied pointedly. "I haven't seen you in years."

"Yeah, cuz. What the hell you doing on the west coast for anyway?" Gunn asked.

"That's a long story." King replied with a sigh. "Let's go somewhere and I'll tell you about it."

Place Unknown

Demon Library

Vergil stood, eyes transfixed on a demonology book that he was reading. He found the spell he needed, to make Michelle stronger, easily enough but he didn't anticipate the large amount of blood that he needed to give for her. Calculating how much was needed, he figured that if he did it wrong, that he would perish himself. But with the possibility of owning the world, he had to admit that it was worth the risk.

Gunn's Hideout

Later That Night

"You've gotta be kidding me?" Gunn asked at the end of King's story. "How the hell you gonna bring a vampire in here?"

"Didn't you just hear what the hell I told you?" King asked as Gunn's gang and the Fang gang stood to their feet. "Faith's got a soul."

"I don't give a damn what she's got." Gunn pressed.

"Come on Gunn, just let me burn that demon bitch." a hispanic youth from Gunn's gang pleaded as he flamed up his flame thrower.

"Just try it bruh." King said stepping in front of Faith.

"Guys calm down."

"Shut up, Alonna!"

"No you shut up, Gunn!" Alonna shouted back, taking Gunn off guard. "You trusted a demon before so why not now?"

"That was different, Alonna..."

"Might I ask, what this demons name was?" Wesley asked, the arguing siblings.

"No you can't, English!" Gunn yelled as he got into Wes' face.

"His name was Xander." Alonna went on, ignoring her brother. Hearing that name Wes and Faith gave each other a look.

"King let's just get the hell out of here." Faith said putting a hand on his shoulder. As she looked around the warehouse she saw how poor and helpless some of the kids looked and glancing at their leader she saw that he was only trying to protect them.

"Funny you should mention hell." a demonic voice spoke from behind them. Turning they saw a seven foot tall ugly, grey skinned demon with a small group of other demons some wearing tragedy masks and others with comedy masks and tuxedo's. "Because, I'm going to personally send all of you there."

"What the...how did you..."

"You're the group that killed all of my vampires earlier tonight." the demon said as he looked around the room, before finally settling on Faith.

"I'm gonna kill, Timothy, he was supposed to be watching the door." Gunn said snapping up his axe.

"Don't worry about it." the demon said as it threw something towards Gunn's feet. Looking down he saw that it was Timothy's severed head. "I already took care of it."

"Let's take them all!" someone from Gunn's group yelled out. Taking the challenge both groups ran towards each other in the most brutal fashion possible.

Going head to head with a group of demons, Faith didn't see a 'tragedy' minion pulling out a stiletto even as it stabbed her through the heart with it. With a wink she pulled out the stiletto, knocked the 'tragedy' minion across the chin, then stabbed it through the heart with its own sword, at the same time throwing the stiletto to skewer a 'comedy' minion through the throat. As Chrystal watched the minions drop to the floor she hurried over to Faith.

"Can we ever get any rest from all of these demon attacks?" she asked as she kicked at a demon and punched it in the face.

"You know the old saying." Faith replied as she ducked a wild swing. "There's no rest for the wicked."

* * *

Wes fenced with a grotesquely masked 'comedy' minion out in the corridor. Strangely it laughed the whole time, even as he punched it in the face a couple of times. After some fancy sword work, Wes managed to run it through with his blade.

"Who's laughing now?" Wes asked as the minion let out a weak laugh. "Well, you. But I still win."

* * *

Seeing the lead demon trying to run away Gunn ran over and started to try to fight it but it blocked every punch he threw.Tara tried to hit one of the minions with her ax, but got pinned up against the side of a wall by it. Seeing what was going on King came over and killed the one holding her, then pulled her out of the way of another demon trying to bash her head in with a crowbar.

Gunn barely managed to avoid the demon's wild swings, but still one of it's fists connected, knocking him down. Faith seeing this yelled "Chrystal, Axe!" throwing her the axe she caught it even as she jumped off a box into a sommersault, burying the axe in the lead demons forehead on the way down. With no fanfare the demon dropped like a tree trunk next to Gunn, even as Faith reached out a hand and pulled Gunn to his feet.

"You five by five?"

"Yeah." he replied as the lights flickered and a soft chiming sounded. Two shapes then flitted across the corridor behind them, unnoticed. Just as Faith straightened up she was just in time to get knocked to the floor by one of the demons minions. Getting back up she hit the demon across the chin with a hard right, snapping it's neck and killing it.

"This isn't over."

The others turned to look at what Wes was indicating and one of the dead minions slowly rose, began to shake, then split in two, one wearing a tragedy mask and sobbing, the other wearing a comedy mask and laughing. With a demonic growl Faith grabbed them both in a head lock under each arm and broke both their necks. As soon as they hit the floor they started shivering and splitting each into a new pair of minions.

"What do we do now?" Alonna asked as she walked over to Faith.

"I think I'll just have to go with my patented sudden burst of violence." she said as she vamped out. Before she could run forward Tara stepped into her path.

"Yo...you won't do any good if you kill any mo...more of these things."

"Well how are we supposed to...?"

"Th...that demon must've had some kinda power source that's making these things."

Turning her yellow eyed gaze back over to the dead demon she saw a wierd light coming from it's body. Running past her friends and kicking a demon in the face, she leapt over and landed next to the demons body. Spotting something she smashed a jewel in the center of the cross-shaped medal hanging around it's neck. As soon as she did a wave of blue light raced out, washing over and making the minions attacking the gang dissappear.

"Ha those guys were chumps." Gunn said as a tragedy mask minion, not touched by the light, came up behind him. Gunn let out a scream as the minion stabbed him from behind with a sword, making him drop to his knees with a groan. Grabbing the sword that Tara tossed to him, wesley ran the demon through instantly killing it as everyone ran around Gunn.

"Gotdamnit."

"Gunn...Gunn are you okay?" Alonna asked, tears already threatening to fall from her eyes. Rolling his eyes back into his head Gunn carefully reached out and pulled his sister against him.

"Hey, what you crying about?" he asked, stroking her shoulder before pulling back and trying to look into her eyes. Seeing King standing behind her, he reached out for him. Remembering his promise that he had made when they were kids, he nodded his head. "You know they lied."

"Lied about what, Gunn?" she asked giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

"They said when you die you see a white light. I ain't seen noth..."

"Gunn! Gunn!" she yelled, shaking her brother hard. "Oh God no!"

Holding his tears in, King grabbed Faith by the arm and dragged her off to the side.

"We're bringing Alonna with us." he whispered.

"What? King..."

"I made a promise to her brother a long time ago that if anything happened to him that I would protect her."

"Yeah but..."

"She can hold her own, Faith. Just trust me." and with that said he moved off to be with his grieving cousin, even as some of the men from the gang started to gather Gunn's body.

"Wh...what are they doing to his body?" Tara asked as she walked up to Faith.

"They're gonna burn it." she said remembering when people in her old gang with King, had died. Shaking the horrible memory out of her head, she turned to her witchly friend. "Tara tell Wes to get us an extra hotel room for the night."

"Why?"

"Because we're gonna have some company."

The Nave of an Abandoned Church.

Vergil walked up the main aisle from the altar with a burning incense censer. Looking up, he narrowed his eyes when he saw Michelle connected to a chain that hung from the ceiling.

"Papi, are you sure you know what you're doing?" she asked, worried.

"How many times must I assure you?" Vergil asked. "I found a spell that'll allow you to gain more power. All I have to do is tweek it a little."

"H...how much tweeking..."

"Silence." he commanded in irritation. "Eligor. I name thee. Bringer of war, poisoners, pariahs, grand obscenity. Eligor, wretched master of decay, bring your black medicine." he started as he sat the censer down on the altar and picked up a large cross. "Come." he went on holding up the cross upside-down. "I command that you give your most impious, murderous child more power." as he said that he grabbed the downward-pointing tip of the cross with his other hand and yanked down, pulling out a dagger, before laying the rest of the cross back on the altar.

Before he could continue a wind started to blow inside the room and an ugly gray skinned demon with red eyes appeared with a flicker of lightning in front of Michelle.

"You are not the Sire impure thing." the demon snarled as he turned to look at Vergil and then at Michelle, who sat there shaking. "You have no right to perform this spell. She will be killed."

"I do have a right, mighty Eligor." Vergil spoke loudly stopping the demon in it's tracks. "I am the son of Sparda."

"Sparda?" Eligor asked angrily as it felt a sword blade slamming deep into it's heart. Not giving the demon even a chance to blink, Vergil ripped out his sword, with the demon's still beating heart on the tip of his blade. Watching as the demon crumbled into dust and dissappeared, Vergil threw the heart at Michelle's feet before continuing with the spell.

"From the blood of Sparda she is risen." he continued taking her left hand as she clasped it.

"Is that what you call tweeking?" she asked.

"From the blood of Sparda, she shall share my power."

With one swift stroke Vergil stabbed the dagger blade through their hands, making Michelle scream in agony. A blindingly bright pink light emanated from their wounds and a pulse of energy spread out. As the light died back down to a faint glimmer Vergil's strength began to ebb from him into her. Taking in so much she drooped backward, feeling his energy flow into her.

"Eat...eat the heart." Vergil said having to hold on to conciousness himself. Reaching down with a shaky hand, after Vergil untied her, Michelle picked up the heart and started to devour it.

* * *

Gunn's truck pulled up beside an alley and King got out, with some old wood furniture in the bed of it. Suddenly George, the second in command of Gunn's gang, grabbed a hold of him as he stepped closer and slammed him up against the back of the truck.

"This is all your fault for coming here!" he growled out angrily. "Gunn would still be alive if it wasn't for you."

"Or maybe if your boy was watching the door like he was supposed to this wouldn't have happened."

"You stupid son of a..."

"I'm gonna take, Alonna with me." he said stopping George in mid punch.

"What?"

"I said I'm taking my cousin with me to Boston." King said again as he pushed him to the side and grabbed a chair from the back of the truck to add it to a pile of other broken furniture laid out a little ways away. "I think the best thing for her is to move to a different spot to keep her mind off of Gunn. Besides, I think Gunn's gang is gonna be left in good hands."

"I still don't get to decide what I'm gonna do with my life?" Alonna asked as she walked up to the two squabbling boys. "You're just like Gunn, you know that?"

"Alonna, I..."

"I'm going with them, George." she started as a look crossed her features. "I ain't got nothing to stay here for anymore."

"Alright." George said contemplating the situation. "But you better take care of her. If I get word that anything happens to her..."

"I got the message." King replied as he walked off from him and stared at Gunn laid out on a pile of broken furniture. Closing his eyes, he threw a match lighting the pyre, as the whole gang watched in silence, even as the flames licked into the night sky.

"King, I'm gonna head on down to Sunnydale." Faith whispered into his ear. "After you get everything settled here, follow me."

Sunnydale

Hours Later

Buffy, silently strolled through the Restfield cemetary, looking for some action. With the Mayor now revealing himself to be a villian, she somehow suspected him to send someone for her, but not even a vampire was anywhere in sight. And on top of her not being able to hit anything, Angel, with Miss Calendar tagging along, had left her a few weeks ago saying that it was time for them to break up. Being quickly taken off guard, a foot connected with her forehead, taking her off of her feet.

Before she could get her bearings and stand up, hands in all different directions came out of the shadows jerking her body in different directions. Being knocked back down, by a backhander, the one at her feet suddenly found himself flying through the air and landing hard on his back. The other two attacked, but met with similar fates. With a growl the first one ran at his attacker again, but got staked. The figure in the shadows grabbed another demon and staked him, just as the others fled. Groggily Buffy looked up at the person standing at her feet and was shocked at who she was looking at.

"Hey, B." Faith started as she extended a hand. "Long time no see."

"Faith?" Buffy asked giving her a suspicious look.

"It's alright, B. I still got my soul."

"And now that the reunions over." a voice said from the shadows. "There's still the matter of you two killing my gang."

Turning Faith saw some vamps come towards her and she started to laugh. As if it were infectious Buffy laughed with her.

"What are you laughing at?" the lead vamp asked annoyed as he turned to Faith.

"I'll tell your dust in a minute."

Forming a loose circle the vamps attacked and Faith swung into action, as did Buffy. Their eyes met during a short lull before they turned back to the business of fighting the vamps. One of them came up on Faith's blind side with a stake and seeing it, Buffy called out a warning. Turning Faith batted the stake aside and they quickly finished off the vamps, Buffy staking then tossing the last one over the side of a crypt.

"That was fun." Buffy said, a slow smile creeping up her lips.

"You seem to be wound tight." Faith replied, as they started to walk out of the cemetary.

"I've had a rough year, but lately it's been kinda boring. Don't you hate it when the bad guy keeps you in suspense?"

"Believe me, you don't know the half of it."

"Why are you here again?"

"To warn you about my big bad."

"So you decided to join in on the good fight?" Buffy asked as they finally walked out of the cemetary. "Hey, nice bike."

"Yeah, now hop on." Faith said getting on herself and revving up the engine. "I'll give you the skinny on the way taking you home."

"Take me to Giles' first. I'll give you directions on the way."

Giles' Apartment

Minutes Later

"Ye...yes I've heard of this Morlun character." Giles was saying as he handed Faith a cup of tea. He had taken the liberty of calling the entire Scooby gang, because it had concerned them aswell. "But honestly, I assumed that he was merely an old wives tale."

"Well consider this official." Faith replied as she put down her cup. "He's gunning for you guys."

"What made him want to come here?" Cordelia spoke up. "It's not like Buffy's all that strong. I mean you kicked her ass right?"

"Gee thanks for the compliment, Cor?" Buffy said, with a sarcastic roll of her eyes. "Your belief in me is spell binding."

"No problem."

"Actually, he... he beat me a few days ago." Faith reluctantly admitted. "After he beat me he said he was coming for the other, Slayer."

"Great so we're doomed." Cordelia exclaimed as Willow let out a deep moan.

"Will's are you okay?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah...yeah just another stomach cramp." she replied, holding her stomach.

"Let me take you home." Oz offered as he stood to his feet.

"Then we will meet up again, tomorrow." Giles said as he put his cup of tea down on the coffee table. "Faith thank you for warning us of the coming danger. Tell your team that we will meet at Sunnydale high library at around, let's say nine o'clock tomorrow night."

"Alright, G. We'll meet you there."

Sunny Hotel

Sometime later

"So how did the meeting go?" King asked as Faith walked into the room. The place wasn't exactly the lap of luxury, but it was good for a few nights.

"Good, they want to meet all of us tomorrow night." she replied, taking off her duster and throwing it onto a dresser. "How's your cousin holdin' up?"

"Not so good." he replied letting out a long suffering sigh, as he continued polishing. "She won't even talk to me. All she can do now is cry."

"What about you?"

"What about me?" King asked, finally looking up at her.

"King we've known each other for a long time, so don't bullshit me."

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm..."

"As strong as ever." she finished for him. "And that's the problem. You haven't even shown that much emotion towards your cousin..."

"That's because I don't wanna stop moving!" King yelled out. "Because when I stop people die. My whole gang, my cousin, you." he said looking at her, tears stinging his eyes. "Faith, I couldn't even save you, how am I supposed to help save the world."

"You know better then I do, that people die in our mission, but no matter what we gotta keep moving. You taught me that."

"But my family?" he asked, cupping her chin in his hands.

"Everybody, King." Faith said sadly, tears stinging her own eyes. "Our job is to push back the darkness as long as we can, but we can't stop it from taking what it wants. Not me, you, or anybody."

"God, I just want the pain to stop. We've lost to much...I've lost to much."

"That's not true." Faith replied as she pulled him close and whispered into his ear. "You still have me."

As the two stood there holding one another, Alonna cracked open the door to the adjourning room and watched her cousin and Faith. She had stopped talking to King, because she thought that he didn't care, but looking and listening to what he had said proved otherwise. He felt just as responsible for her brothers death then she did.

"Alright, enough of this mushy stuff." Faith said as she let go of King and started to clean her face. "We gotta long day tomorrow, so let's get some sleep."

Sunnydale High

The Next Night

"Alonna are you sure you wanna be here?" King asked as they walked through the eerily dark and quiet school. "Don't you think you should..."

"I'm tired of resting and crying." she replied as they walked down the hallway that led to the library. "Now I wanna kick a little ass."

"Hello." Wesley called out as he opened the double doors of the library, his own voice echoing back. "That's strange. Mr. Giles doesn't seem to be the kind to be late. Are you sure, you were right about what time he said to meet here?"

"Yeah, I ain't slow Wes." Faith said with a shake of her head. "Something doesn't feel right anyway. Something's wrong."

"You can say that again." Chrystal said, falling to her knees, in the throws of a vision.

"Chyrs...what are you..." before Faith could continue, she felt the power of her nemesis Morlun. Eyes flickering between normal and golden, she ran outside, followed closely by the others, their weapons at the ready. As soon as she stepped out of the door, a flaming arrow whizzed towards her. Yanking it out of thin air, they looked up and saw five dark robed and hooded figures step out of the shadows. The one holding the crossbow, now lowering the weapon.

"Ahh, Faith. Right on time." Morlun's voice was heard as he levitated behind the robed figures. "Now the fun can begin." as he said that the figures lowered their hoods and with wide eyes, the Fang gang saw that it was Buffy, Giles, Willow, Oz, and Cordelia, their eyes glazed over black.

"Fuck." was all that Faith could say as the Scooby gang started to surround them.


	15. Chapter 14 Disciple

A/N I forgot to tell you in the other chapter that I was uploading two chapters at once. So enjoy this second part.

Chapter 14

Disciple

A great blanket of dark and dismal clouds smothered the land, even though it was already dark. Strolling back to her motorcycle, after Morlun ascended back into the sky, Faith drew her broad sword from its sheathe, before running back to the others.

"Alright, Wes you got the G-man, Chrys you take on the beauty queen, King and Alonna you get short stuff, and Tar' you take on Red." Faith said, her eyes never leaving Buffy's. "B's mine."

"Faith, what the hell are you talking about?" Wes asked. "We can't attack them. They're our allies."

"So you'd rather them chop us up into little bits?" Faith asked back as Cordelia and Giles produced huge axe's from under their robes. "I don't want you to kill them anyway. Just see if you can knock them out, long enough for me to try to go after Morlun."

With her order given the team ran out to their respective opponents.

* * *

"Mr. Giles, before we engage in fisticuffs I just wanted to tell you that..." before Wesley could finish his statement Giles knocked Wesley's sword away with a wide arc and swung his blade back around, slashing the young Watcher across his chest, drawing blood. "I see you don't feel much like talking." 

Seeing that Giles was moving slow and almost zombie like, Wes lunged forward, and saw that at the last possible second Giles stepped aside and slapped his axe handle down on his back. Wes, having overbalanced himself in his blind run, went tumbling forward and fell to the ground. Not wanting him to get to his knees Giles immediately kicked him against his temple, sending him into a roll. Holding the side of his head in pain, he could only watch as Giles stood over him and lifted his huge axe, ready to bring it down for the final blow.

"I'm sorry." Wes mumbled as he pulled a knife out of his back pocket. Jumping up he stabbed Giles in the thigh, sending out a thick layer of blood. As the old Watcher howled in pain, Wesley stood to his feet, knee'd him in the crotch, and finally knocked him out with an uppercut.

Wes could only stare at his clinched fist in amazement, as he saw that he had knocked his opponent out. In all of his life, he had never hit anyone so hard. Feeling something other then pride, he yelped in pain as he finally felt the effects and saw the bruise on his fist, because of said punch.

* * *

Chrystal and Cordelia walked around each other, in a circle, sizing each other up and ready to strike at a moments notice. Seeing something under Cordelia's robe Chrys cocked her head to the side and smiled. 

"Hey that's a nice blouse." she said as Cordy looked at her strangely, with those inky black eyes. "Neiman Marcus?"

"No." Cordelia half growled out, almost lifelessly. "It's Versace and I got it at Saks."

"Saks?" Chrys asked in disbelief. "Now I know you really are a slut."

Dropping her axe out of anger, the two then charged each other and traded a fierce volley of kicks and punches. Snapping out a kick towards the younger girls stomach, Chrystal jumped back to block the blow. Sending out a punch of her own Cordelia blocked it and launched a knife hand strike towards her throat. Knocking her hand away Chrys went into a series of rapid fire punches, which Cordelia blocked, before jumping into a spin kick.

Dropping down to the ground, Cordy moved in low and tripped Chrystal up, knocking her flat on her butt. Looking up she saw that Cordy had picked up her axe and held it's blade at her throat.

"Ummmm...I was just kidding about the whole slut thing." Chrys joked, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. Sensing a presence behind her Cordy turned and ducked a punch aimed for her head. Slashing out at Wesley, she was unable to avoid being hit in the back of the head with the hilt of Chrystal's sword. Catching her before she fell, Wesley lowered her body down to the ground.

"Are you alright?" he asked the Seer as he turned to her.

"Yeah, you?"

"I'm fine. Now let's go and help the others."

* * *

"This little guy, doesn't even have a weapon." Alonna mocked as she stood side by side with King. 

"Something tells me, he doesn't need one." King replied as Oz's hood fell over his face. A low growl then sounded throughout the night. Curious as to what was going on, Alonna got to close and removed Oz's hood, only to reveal that his eyes had rolled up in the back of his head. Scared shitless she screamed and jumped back as thick black hair quickly began to cover his little body, and his canines descended out of his mouth. With a growl, his jaw and body started to crack as he transformed into a nine foot tall werewolf.

"N...nice doggy."

"Come on, get behind me." King urged his cousin, as the slobbering lycan got down on all fours. Watching them with it's pitch black eyes, it opened it's mouth and let out the most horrible growl, either of them had ever heard. "Alright we're gonna have to start zigzagging around this thing. Atleast until I can figure out a way to knock him out."

"Whoa...whoa...whoa, you want to fight this thing?" she asked. "But..."

"No time, now move!" King yelled as he ran away from her. "Hey ugly over here!"

Looking at King in confusion, because of the noise he was making, the lycan sniffed the air. Smelling fear it looked over at Alonna and lunged for her.

'Damnit." King thought to himself. 'I'm never going to make it to her in time.'

As he thought that, something whistled past his head and embedded itself into the demons legs. Looking back he was just in time to see Wesley and Chrystal running past him, the latter having thrown silver ninja stars at his would be attacker. Jumping up she scissor kicked her leg into the neck of the werewolf, forcing it face first into the ground. Grabbing Alonna by the hand, King jerked her away from the demon, before he could bite at her flesh. Raising his axe over his head, he was going to deal a death blow, before Chrystal jumped in his way.

"King, what the hell are you doing?!" she yelled as the demon growled angrily behind her, after Wes shot it twice with the tranq gun he had gotten from the truck, knocking it out. "He's one of the good guys remember?" before he could answer, without warning Oz rolled over and bit Chrys' leg, making her scream in pain. Holding her bloody leg, she watched as Wes shot Oz again effectively knocking him out.

* * *

Running back from her slowly approaching opponent Tara reached into her magic bag and pulled out a small metal box.. As she stopped running, she pulled a pin on the side of the box and watched as little metal wings appeared from holes on two sides of the box. The wings began to flap and Tara smiled as it lifted off her hand and up into the air. Saying a few choice words, the thing flew away with quick flitting movements like a bat. Still walking calmly towards her the winged box flew up to Willow and as she looked at it in surprise the box suddenly exploded. 

But the explosion, instead of moving continuously outward, only expanded to a diameter of about ten feet. It surrounded Willow in a shimmering ball of energy like solidified air and fire, holding her motionless. With a crooked smile she stepped forward, and the ball shattered into large pieces like glass.

"You're really a pathetic witch." Willow said in a low scary voice. "Let me show you what a real one can do."

With that said Willow surrounded herself with energies streaming in at her from all directions - as if she were collecting strength, the center of some great cosmic vortex. As a omnious wind began to blow her hair went black along with black veins that covered her body. Putting a sick smile on her face she lifted her hand and blasted Tara with mystical energy. Rocking back, from the attack, Tara went crashing into a tree, hit the ground, and as she tried to stand, found that she couldn't get up.

"And now you die, you pathetic, useless, weak..." and the second she said that, she got hit by a giant blast of energy which sent her flying and sliding back painfully across the ground. Finally coming to a stop, her nose bleeding. Stunned she wiped the blood on her sleeve, as an incredulous expression crossed her face.

"I'm not weak." Tara announced proudly, standing to her feet. After all she had done and seen in the last few months the last thing she was, was weak. Digging deep into her magical power, she sent out a large amount of power towards Willow, who blocked it and sent it to the ground, where it exploded.

"Asmodea, bring forth..."

"Vincire!" Tara yelled out, interrupting Willow's spell.

Green magic energy shot from Tara's hand and formed a band around Willow's torso, pinning her arms against her body. It glowed with a green light that made Willow's skin appear green too. Pumping more energy into the attack Tara continued holding out her hand toward her. Suddenly Willow threw back her head and closed her eyes, apparently unconscious. Her body floated up into the air and hovered about a foot off the ground. The band of magic holding her then changed to a more contained blue-grey color.

"What did you do?" Wesley asked as he ran up behind her.

"I...I contained her and her powers within a binding field. It...it puts her in a kind of ... stasis."

"You can do that?"

"I...I guess I can." Tara replied as she looked at her hand.

"Wes, we gotta get this over with quick!" King yelled out, carrying an unconcious Chrystal in his arms. "She's lost alot of blood and..."

"What happened to her?" Giles asked, as he slowly walked towards them holding his jaw.

"What are you..."

"King it's alright." Wesley said meeting his fellow Watcher's gaze. "He's back to normal."

"How do you know?"

"Just trust me." he told him before looking back at Giles. "She was bitten by a werewolf."

"You mean, Oz. Good lord!"

"Enough talking, can you help her or not?" King demanded.

"Yes, but not out here. We must go to the library."

"Wes?"

"Go and Alonna go with them." he replied giving Giles a curious glance. "Just to make sure nothing goes wrong."

As the three of them ran off Wesley looked back and watched Faith and Buffy fighting.

* * *

Circling each other Faith noticed a shortsword clinging to Buffy's back without the use of a sheathe. The last time she had ever seen something like that was when she had first come to Sunnydale, all those months ago. And taking a closer look at said shortsword, she saw it's eerie resemblance to Xander's sword Rebellion. 

"Always keep your eyes on your opponent." Buffy suddenly said lifelessly. "Isn't that the first thing your Watcher taught you? Oh yeah that's right. You let her die."

"Keep talking bitch." Faith replied with a sneer, old memories coming back to her. "You're only gonna make this easier."

"You know the old saying, Faith. Don't sing it..." Buffy replied as she extended her hand and brought it up in a come on gesture. "Just bring it."

With a soft growl, Faith ran forward and went into a series of kicks. Jumping over them, as if playing jump rope, Buffy landed to her feet but was caught off guard by a punch to the chest that knocked her to the ground. Seeing that the Bostonian was reaching for her, Buffy did a fancy spinning move, and kicked Faith's hand away while at the same time kipping back to her feet. In one fluid motion, she jumped into a perfect spinning heel kick that Faith, effortlessly ducked under.

"Come on B, snap out of it." Faith said as she blocked some rapid fire punches from the blond haired Slayer. "We ain't supposed to be fighting each other." Ignoring her, Buffy did a one handed hand stand, kicked Faith in the face, jumped down to a crouch and took Faith's feet from under her. As soon as she lifted her head up, she saw Buffy's sword already at her throat.

"And I thought you were supposed to be the Ascended Slayer." Morlun's voice was heard as he suddenly appeared behind Buffy, stroking her hair softly as he spoke. "You did well my child, but I will finish her off." not saying a word, she lowered her sword and walked off.

Scooting back some Faith's hand touched metal. Snatching it up she leapt forward through the air and swung her broadsword down towards Morlun's head. Smiling he knocked the blade aside and grabbed her neck in a tight chokehold.

"You amuse me little one. But why are we keep fighting? You should join me and..."

Using his banter to her advantage, Faith rolled her right hand into a fist and punched him hard in the nose. Wincing in pain Morlun lifted her over his head and tossed her away as if she were nothing. Not being able to control her descent she slammed against the ground hard before coming to a skidding halt.

"So you still have the will to resist me?" he asked touching his nose. "We'll see about that."

Suddenly a magic light from nowhere begins to light up Morlun's body, and his eyes went black as a humming noise began to rise in pitch and volume.

* * *

"Tara we have to do something." Wesley said lowly, as he looked to her towards where their leader was fighting. "Things aren't looking to good for, Faith and if she fails..." 

"Let...let me go." they both heard a weak voice say. Looking back they saw that Willow's hair and eyes had turned back to normal.

"How did you..."

"I don't have time to explain." Willow cut her off. "Morlun's using so much power that he can't control all of us. Let me go and I can release Buffy and the others."

"Do it." Wes spoke up, making Tara look back at him strangely. "It's not like we have a choice. Let her..." before he could finish what he was saying they all heard a growl along with the scraping of metal. With wide eyes they watched as Cordelia, with axe in hand, and the werewolf Oz run towards them. Dropping the spell, Willow quickly got to her feet and outstrecthed her hand.

"Release the mind as well as the soul. Inside outside one being is whole." as she said that a white ball of energy shot out of the palm of her hand and went into the bodies of Oz and Cordelia stopping them in their tracks. His eyes rolling in the back of his head, werewolf Oz fell down in a heap as his body started to crack and transform back to normal.

"What the...what the hell happened?" Cordelia asked as she dropped her axe and wobbled unsteadily on her feet.

"Did...it just taste purple for a second?" Oz asked, as he looked up and then down to notice that he was very naked. Not saying anything Cordelia took off her robe and placed it on him. Giving her a curt nod in thanks, he put it on and stood to his feet.

"Willow, what's going on?" Cordy asked as she walked up to the red head. "The last thing I remember is that cute guy coming to us and..."

"That guy was a vampire. The vampire." Willow cut her off. "He took control over our minds."

"And he still has control over, Buffy's." Wesley whispered into her ear. "Do you think you can..."

"I'm already way ahead of you." Willow started as her hair blew back by a mysterious wind. Sending out a huge ball of energy, it went straight towards the blond haired Slayer.

* * *

Opening up a vortex at his side, Morlun reached in and pulled out a giant halberd like sword. Just by looking at it Faith could tell that it was extremely heavy, yet Morlun still wielded it with one hand. 

"Little one, do you have any idea what this is?" he asked as he eyed her curiously. Before she could come up with a witty remark he went on. "This is one of the three weapons used to drive the last of us pure demons out of this dimension. It's called the Banryū."

"That's some wicked good info." Faith said spitting out a little blood. "Now give it here so I can send you back where you belong."

"You little minx. It's a pity you have to die." as he said that he heard something metallic whistling in the air. Turning he was barely able to dodge the sword throw, that put a small gash on his cheek. Seeing the projectile coming Faith snatched the sword out of the air and saw that it was Buffy's short sword. Looking up she saw the blonde haired Slayer running quickly towards them.

"Sorry to dissappoint you Mor, but the only one going down tonight is you." Buffy quipped as she bent down to pick up Faith's broadsword and went to stand beside her. "And as my friend Xander would say, you're about to play your swan song."

"Then come little girl." Morlun said extending his hand. "Let us begin." as Buffy was about to run forward, Faith extended the short sword, stopping her in her tracks.

"Let me have at him first, B." Faith said never taking her eyes off of the villian. "Me and him got a score to settle."

Not waiting for Buffy to reply, Faith leapt forward with a flying crescent kick that Morlun managed to duck down under. Snapping back up straight the two went into a blindingly fast series of sword swipes and dodges. Rising back to her feet Faith swung Buffy's sword down towards his head and seeing the blade coming Morlun used his own sword to block the blow, knock her sword aside, and slash his across her chest, drawing blood. Spinning with the blow, she swung her blade horizontally towards his head. With speed thought impossible he parried the blow and punched her in the side.

Bending over to cough up blood, Faith felt as Buffy rolled across her back and watched as she slashed upward with her sword cutting Morlun across the chest. Stumbling backwards from the cut Morlun put his hand on the gash and stared at his own blood enraged.

"Come on Faith we can do this together." Buffy was saying as she felt a strange energy in the air.

"Dragon Thunder!" Morlun shouted as he slammed the blade of the sword to the ground. A massive shockwave of energy lashed out and exploded in front of the Slayer's with a series of ripping sparks. Not being able to jump out of the way Buffy and Faith were thrown back and went stumbling across the ground.

"Damn..." Buffy winced out as she managed to lift her face off of the ground. "He's...he's stronger then I thought."

"I...I can't let him win." Faith spoke as she tried to stand, trembling with the effort. Not having the strength she fell face first back to the ground.

* * *

"Wes wha...what are we going to do now?" Tara asked, seeing that both Buffy and Faith had been defeated. 

"For the life of me I don't... who is that?" he asked as he saw someone with dark skin, matted hair walking past the still down and out Slayer's.

* * *

Letting out a roar of laughter Morlun nearly dropped his sword at the sight of his prey. It had been a long time since he had a chance to hurt or maim someone and he was enjoying every minute of it. Clutching his sword a little tighter, he picked up the stench of his oldest enemy. Eyes glowing red, he looked up and saw a dark-skinned woman with long matted dreadlocks and long sharp fingernails, walking through the down bodies of the Slayers. Her face was painted with white and grayish paint, lines of black paint across her eyes, and she was wrapped in rags. 

"You stupid wench!" Morlun shouted as she stopped a few feet in front of him, motionless. "You're supposed to be dead."

'As are you.' she spoke back to him in a gravely voice, not moving her lips. 'You are to be burning in the fire.'

"Let's just say I got better." he replied with a false smile.

'You do not belong here.' she went on. 'And you dare use the weapon of my brother in arms.'

"Then please do something about it." he offered. With a speed the human eye itself couldn't see, she jumped over his head, whirled around, kicked him, punched him twice, before extending her leg again and kicking him into a wall. Dropping down, to avoid her next attack, he spun back, grabbed her arm, punched her and flung her across the parking lot. Landing hard on her back, next to Buffy, she looked down and saw her short sword. Picking it up, she ran towards her opponent.

As they clashed swords powerful magic crackled and shot through the area destroying whatever was in it's path. With one hand Morlun swung his sword and took her off guard by going into a spin slashing his blade across her chest. Pushing the attack he ran forward and kicked her upside the head, again knocking her back. As she crumbled to the ground Morlun charged forward to deal the last and final blow. Digging deep into her ancient power, the woman gathered her strength and managed to get to her knees. Throwing her sword slightly in the air, she caught it and threw it like a javelin knocking Morlun's halbred out of his hands.

Before the massive weapon could even fall to the ground, the woman was on her feet sending out a powerful uppercut, that sent him rolling across the ground. Looking up he saw that the woman had her sword pointed at his neck.

"Kill me and be done with it wench!"

'It is not my job to defeat you this time.' she said as she turned her back to him and threw the shortsword up, where it was caught by Faith's waiting hands. 'It's my children's time.' she finished before fading away. Running past where she once was, Faith and Buffy launched a fearsome attack.

As Faith kept him busy, Buffy reached down and picked up Banryū and immediately felt power coming from it. Ignoring it for now, she pushed Faith to the side and swung the weapon expertly, inches away from taking the villians head, but at the last second he ducked. Seeing that they were a little too close for comfort, he dug into his magical powers and sent out a massive shock wave that took both of them off of their feet.

"You...you think that you can destroy me!? I am the beginning and the end!"

"Blah, blah, blah that's what they all say." Faith cut him off. "What'cha say, B. You wanna finish him off?"

"With a guy like that I think he needs two girls to give him his last dance." she said back, with a smile. Taking off in a run, they both threw their weapons between one another.

Smiling to himself, Morloun knew that they wouldn't be able to dodge his next attack. Clapping his hands together and putting it into a diamond shape, he summoned a huge and powerful ball of swirling anger and fire.

"Hatred Ball!" he shouted as he threw it at them. Seeing it coming Faith twisted the giant sword around and brought it up like a shield. Seeing that the power from it was holding back the ball of energy, she used it like a baseball bat and knocked it back towards the ancient vampire.

With wide eyes, Morlun was engulfed by the flames of his own attack. Making eye contact with both Buffy and Faith for the last time, he fell to his knees and allowed the flames to devour him, until nothing more then a skeleton remained. Levitating out of her hands, Banryū flew into the air, disappearing into nothingness. Without saying a word about it, both of them knew it was for the best.

"I never saw a vamp turn into bone before." Faith said as she watched Buffy's expression change into one of anger.

"I have." she replied as she picked up something and started to smash his bones into a million pieces.

* * *

The Fang Gang and the Scoobies, with the exception of Willow and Oz, sat around the library table doing nothing more then looking at each other. Putting another ice pack on his sore forehead, Giles decided to be diplomatic and start off talking. 

"When Oz was first bitten by a werewolf, a colleague and myself did extensive research on their transformations. We even had to trek to Nepal, where after doing a month's worth of research we found a cure. The only problem is it has to be administered within a few moments of being bitten, because the werewolf venom spreads so rapidly. If we had've gotten to Oz in time we could've saved him from his fate."

"But you weren't too late to save me were you?" Chrystal asked nervously.

"No...no, I've administered a combination of silver nitrate and other herbal supplements into your blood stream. However you must keep taking the medication periodically for the next couple of weeks to kill all of the werewolf antibodies." he said reaching to the floor and handing her a bag of medication. Excepting it, she nodded her head in thanks.

"So how did you guys finally kill Morlun?" King asked as he eyed a sledge hammer that layed in a corner. It was already weird that a vampire turned into bones, but what was weirder was that they made it a point to smash said bones into dust.

"We didn't." Buffy spoke up as she shared a look with Faith. "Well not alone anyway."

"Speaking of that, who was that woman anyway?" Wesley asked. "For some reason she seemed familiar."

"She should." Faith said folding her arms. "She was the first Slayer."

"What?" Giles asked as the others fell silent. "What did you just say?"

'Come on old man, open your ears.' Faith thought to herself.

'Hey that's my Watcher you're thinking about.' Buffy telepathically reprimanded her.

'You can still hear my thoughts?' Faith thought back. 'Damn.'

"I believe Mr. Giles asked you two a question." Wesley spoke up eagerly, wondering what the two of them were smirking about.

"Alright, alright." Buffy started as she got off of the folder cabinet and started to pace around. "In the beginning all kinds of icky things and monsters roamed the earth..."

"Yes, yes, yes...we know that part." Wesley said urgently, while jotting down notes. "Get to the good part."

Shooting daggers at him, with her eyes, Faith telepathically said something to Buffy that made her laugh out loud. Calming herself down she continued her story.

"Millions of years after, man was formed and was oppressed by the demons. After their numbers grew, they banned together and learned the magical secrets of the demon kings."

"When that happened they forged two magical weapons and used them to drive the pure breed demons out of our dimension." Faith picked up the story. "The final demon left was Morlun. He was one of the most powerful and everyone that came up against him were killed in a flash. So three sages banned together and abducted a young girl, bound her to the earth and used a demon esscence to give her strength."

"So that's how the first Slayer came about." Giles spoke out loud. "Intriging."

"When they first fought, Morlun still almost killed her." Buffy picked up where Faith left off. "But a group of women were watching her the whole time and they gave her a weapon that they had made. So when the next time her and Morlun had a throw down, she wounded him real bad but he still got the upper hand and while she was weak he used the Four Barbarian beasts to kill her. The women that were watching her, surrounded him while he was weak and sealed him into a giant rock coffin, where he was supposed to stay. As his last curse, before he left he bit a man and killed him. The next night he woke up and was reborn and he bit others and..."

"They in turn bit others." Wes said as he sat down his notepad.

"Not that, that story wasn't uselessly boring, but I'm tired." Cordelia suddenly said as she stood to her feet and streched.

"Boring?" Wesley asked, shocked. "That had to be the most incredible story, I've ever..."

"Don't take what she says at face value." Giles whispered to his fellow Watcher. "Just nod your head and smile like I've grown accustomed to doing."

"I'm beat too." King suddenly said as he and Alonna stood to their feet. "Let's go back to the hotel and..."

"No." Buffy said cutting him off. "You guys aren't going to stay at a hotel. You're gonna stay with us."

"But we..."

"But nothing. Cordelia your parents are out of town right?"

"Yeah, but I..."

"Alright King, you, Alonna, and Chrystal are gonna stay with Cordelia. Wes and Tara you're going with Giles, and Faith you're staying with me."

"Well now that, that's settled." Giles said annoyed as he stood to his feet. He was looking forward to spending a night alone with his records and whiskey. Bloody child. "Let's get some sleep."

* * *

"Mom are you home?" Buffy asked as she walked through her front door and looked around. Not getting an answer she opened the door wider for Faith to come in. With a roll of her eyes, Faith crossed her arms and gave her a look. 

"You gotta invite me in remember?"

"Sorry. Come on in." Buffy replied stepping aside.

Walking slowly into her house, Faith looked around the living room before finally settling her gaze on a picture on the far wall. It was a picture of Buffy and her mom, holding onto each other and smiling.

"Why would you be jealous?" Buffy asked, Faith confused.

"What?" Faith asked snapping out of her musings.

"I just heard what you were thinking." Buffy clarified. "Now why are you jealous of me?"

"I'll just tell you like this, B." Faith replied, a bit misty eyed. "I didn't have it so good with a ma that cared about me. Just consider yourself lucky."

Not wanting to press the issue, Buffy led her up to her room, where Faith dropped her bag and her duster to the floor.

"Where are your sheets and blankets?" Faith suddenly asked as she took off her Dock Martins.

'Not on your life, you're taking the bed.' Buffy thought to her.

'What?'

'No but's Faith. I don't care how rough your life was and what you're used to sleeping on. As long as you're in my house and my guest, you get the bed. Got it?'

"Yes ma'am." Faith replied mockingly as she sat on the bed. 'Damn I can't wait for this mind reading thing to wear off.'

"I heard that." Buffy said with a smile as she walked over to her closet and threw some blankets and sheets on the floor. "Not to seem nosy or...well I do want to be nosy. What the hell happened to you after you left Sunnydale?"

"What didn't happen." she commented as Buffy sat on the floor and looked up at her. "After the things that I did here, I moped around for like two weeks before..."

"You were gonna kill yourself?" Buffy asked, a little shocked after reading her mind.

"Hey, whose telling this story here?"

"Sorry."

With that said, Faith told her everything that had happened to the point of her arrival in Sunnydale.

"Still you had it easier then I did this year." Buffy said with a sigh of her own. "After you left, Xander, Kendra, and Trish died in our last battle with Ahriman."

"How the hell do you have the strength to go on?" Faith asked. If anything had happened to King and the others...

"Because, I know if I don't then the world would be worse." Buffy said as she picked up her shortsword. "That's what Xander and the others would've wanted. And to top this year off my boyfriend Angel and Giles' fiancee left town to start another front in LA."

"Ouch."

"Yeah. It hurts like hell that we broke up, but...well there is no but it just hurts like hell." she said as they both shared a laugh. "The good thing is, Miss Calendar is supposed to be coming back in a few more months, since they have a few new members on their team. One of them is a witch, so after some training, she'll come back. Oh and the Mayor is our big bad this time."

"The Mayor?" Faith asked skeptically. "That's so...cliche."

"Who are you telling?"

* * *

"Whoa this is a sweet crib." Alonna admired as Cordelia let her, Chrystal, and King into her guest house. 

"The benefits of being...rich." she drifted off as King took of his shirt, exposing his muscles. Dropping her mouth open, she let her eyes roam his body.

"Cordelia." Chrystal said running her hand across her face.

"Huh what?" Cordy asked, snapping out of her daze.

"I said where do you want us to put our stuff?" she asked again.

"I know where she wants King to put his stuff." Alonna snickered out, as Cordelia started to blush.

"You girls need to stop playing around." King started, smiling madly himself as he dropped down to the floor to do his nightly routine of push ups. "Cordelia was cool enough to let us stay with her, at least you could treat her nice."

"At least somebody around here appreciates me." Cordelia started as she put an arm around Chrystal's shoulder. "Now what was this I remember about being called a slut?"

* * *

"Your home library is quite extraordinary." Wes said excitedly as he rummaged through the tired man's books. "Oh my, you have the first edition of the TB Arthur reports." 

"Yes, I've picked up a few volumes of text here and there." Giles was saying as he handed him some sheets and a pillow. "Wesley you can have the couch. Tara you can have the extra rooom upstairs." he said as he turned around to see her drop a crystal ball like object to the floor.

"M...Mr. Giles I...I'm sorry." Tara stuttered out nervously. "I...I didn't mean..."

"It's quite alright dear." Giles replied, surprised at the girls nervousness. Even Willow hadn't acted so mousy when they had met. "See it isn't even broken."

"Wha...what is it?" she asked as he placed it back on his shelf.

"It's called an orb of Thesulah. It's used to..."

"Hold souls." she finished, not taking her eyes off of it.

"That's correct." Giles said impressed, as he admonished himself for not sensing it in her aura. From what he could see she had the potential to be a very powerful witch. "How long have you been into witch craft?"

"Si..since I was little." she said bowing her head. "My-my Mom taught me."

"And she's an excellant witch." Wesley interjected proudly as he put an arm around her shoulder. "With my supervision of course."

"Of course." Giles replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Because of her we were able to go back in time and slay the demon 50-Below."

"Yes, yes I know." the older man said as they both looked up at him. "When Morlun took over our minds we shared thoughts briefly and he told us of what you had done."

"I see."

"No...no you don't." Giles replied meeting their gaze. "There's a battle coming Wesley. A war that none of us might not survive."

The Next Night

Sunnydale High

"Are you sure you guys can't stay a little longer?" Buffy asked, the Fang gang as the walked out of the front door of the school.

"I wish we could, but we've been gone from home for too long." Faith said with a sigh. Now she knew why Buffy seemed so good a wholesome. Her ma was everything that she had wanted in a parent, down from her cooking, her motherly smell and to her pleasant attitude. "Unless you want our help in taking down your big bad?"

"We got it, but thanks for the offer." Buffy said with a smile.

"Hey where's Red?" she suddenly asked, looking around. "I haven't seen her all weekend."

"I don't know what's wrong with her, but for the last few weeks she hasn't been feeling to good."

"Then give her this." Faith said reaching into her duster and handing her something. Taking it Buffy saw that it was...

"A baby rattle. Why would this make..." closing her mouth and then opening it again, Buffy thought about what she had just been told. "My...my best friend is gonna have a baby. Oh my God this is...wow, I'm gonna be an aunt."

"What are you two talking about?" Cordy asked as she drove her car up to them and got out.

"Nothing." Buffy said a little to quickly as she hid the rattle behind her back. She wanted to tell Willow about what was going on, herself.

"Alright, you guys ready to go?" King asked, as he and the others walked up to them.

"I'm afraid you can't leave just yet. Atleast not without us giving you your presents." Giles said as he reached into Cordy's car and handed Wesley a couple of old books and Tara a bag along with three small books.

"But these are some first edition books...I can't possibly..."

"Don't worry about it, I still have the second editions." Giles said as he shook his fellow Watcher's hand.

"The...the orb of Thesulah." Tara said as she looked up at the older man. "But..."

"I have no use for that anymore." he whispered to her. "But you might. Also promise me that you'll read those books. One teaches you how to use force magick and the others teach you how to control your magick. I can see in you that you have potential to be a very powerful witch. I'd just hate to see you being drawn to the darkness.

"Th...thank you." Tara told him with a nod. She had read his aura and saw that it was mostly white, but it was tinged with small specks of darkness. Taking his word to heart, she thought about what new things she would get to learn.

"Hopefully my gift doesn't make you look like a slut." Cordelia said as she gave Chrystal some shopping bags. Peeking inside Chrys saw some shirts and other clothes. "I remember you telling me that you didn't have much on the way of clothes, so I don't know I decided to get you and Alonna some stuff."

"Cool." Chrys said with a smile as she pulled her into a hug, that she quickly broke out of as she saw King approaching.

"And...and I bought this for you." she said handing him a powerful looking battle axe. Taking it he saw that it had egyptian runes running down the blade and down the shaft.

"Whoa this...this is awesome." he said as he swung the blade around slightly. "I can't wait to kill something with this. Thank you." he went on as he pulled her into a powerful hug and kissed her on the cheek. Smiling from ear to ear, she reached down and squeezed a butt cheek, making it look like an accident.

"Oops sorry." she whispered into his ear.

"What do those symbols mean?" Alonna asked, ignoring their antics, as she took the deadly weapon from her cousin and looked at it.

"If I'm not mistaken, it means powerful warrior." Wesley said taking it from her and examining it.

"And this is for you, Faith." Buffy said handing her a bag. "I didn't know what kinda music you might like so Oz helped me pick out some things."

As Faith looked inside, she also saw a piece of wood at the bottom of the bag. Taking it out, she saw that it was a curved stake. Not knowing what to make of it, she gave Buffy a questioning look.

"It was a stake that Kendra gave me when we first met. She's the reason that you became a Slayer in the first place so I thought it was fitting for you to have it." Buffy said looking from her to Alonna. "And we didn't forget you either." she said handing her a small box. Opening it she saw an expensive looking picture frame with a photo of her and her brother when they were younger.

"Where...where did you get this?" Alonna asked as her fingers traced her brothers face. She remembered that day when the picture was taken. It was a day after their parents died in a fire that also destroyed their home. Before the people at social services took the picture, Gunn had held her tight and told her that he would always protect her.

"Faith told me that your brother was killed a couple of days ago." Buffy said sadly. Even though Xander and the others weren't blood family, she too still felt that she could relate to what Alonna was going through. "And that you didn't have much on the way of something personal of his. So Willow broke into LA's private records and she found that picture."

"Thank you. I...I can't believe that you would do this for me."

"Don't worry about it." Buffy said as she shared a look with Faith. 'I know you have to go, but I want you to know that if you ever need us for anything just call.'

After taking a few pictures with both the teams, they said their goodbyes and headed seperate ways. Faith got on her motorcycle as King and the others got into his truck.

"This visit went better then I thought it would." Wesley said as he cracked open one of his new books. He couldn't wait to get home and get some much needed reading done.

"Who you tellin', I got some new clothes out of this." Chrystal added.

"I say we make one more stop before we go home." Faith said as she revved her motorcycle up. "I saw this club in LA on the way over here. It's called Caritas."

"We really should get back home don't you think?"

"Stop spoiling our fun." Chrystal said, lightly slapping him on the back of the head, from the back seat. "Besides it's not like I had a vision or anything."

"Yeah, English it's not like it's everyday we get to have fun." King added. "Come on Faith. Lead the way."

As they started to drive out of the city, Faith could no longer hear Buffy's voice speaking to her, telling her to be strong. With a smile she revved her bike once more and watched as she passed the Now Leaving Sunnydale sign.

A/N I decided to add a little mystery as to why Faith and Buffy share a psychic bond with each other. Maybe I'll add something at the end of the story explaining it. Also I hope you enjoyed these two chapters and again I'm sorry for taking so long to update.


	16. Chapter 15 What We Leave Behind

A/N Thanks to everyone that stayed with me through this fic. I was actually going to do four chapters at first but I decided to do this one and the Epilogue, which I'm uploading right after this one so I can finally end this fic and move on to a few others so I can finish those aswell. Plus I gotta get started on the book I have planned on writing, so it's been nagging at me to finish off these stories. Anyway enjoy and no matter how this chapter may seem, there will be a happy ending for Faith.

Chapter 15

What We Leave Behind

Unknown Dimension

Taking Yamato out of it's sheathe, Vergil slit his wrist and let his lifes blood pour over a stone pillar. Mumbling something under his breath, his demonic hearing picked up someone sneaking up behind him.

"Did you get the item, I requested?" he asked, not bothering to turn around.

"Yeah." his vampire lover, Michelle answered, amazed that he had heard her. "I got your dusty old scrolls. Now you gotta tell me what's going on."

"Come here for a second and I'll tell you." he beckoned. As she walked over, he jerked her by the arm and cut deeply into her wrist.

"What the fuck are you doing!" she screamed, jerking her arm free and trying to stop the bleeding.

"Never question me again!" Vergil growled as he turned with a sneer on his lips. "Now get to earth and do as I ordered."

Biting back what she was going to say, she turned and did as he requested. For the last couple of months her lovers attitude had changed for the worst. Wiping the blood off of Yamato with his hand, he wiped his lovers blood on the pillar as well, watching as it soaked into the rock.

"Demons of the underworld I beseech thee. Give me back the Generals that were lost to me."

Faith's Apartment

Same Time

Chrystal woke up with a gasp and in a cold sweat as she sat up off of Faith's lap. The whole gang had been watching a movie together and she had fallen asleep. Coming out of her sleep as well, Faith looked up and saw her friend sweating hard.

"Chrys, what's up?" Faith asked groggily. "You have a bad dream or somethin'?"

"Yeah... I... don't." she said closing her eyes for a second. All she could remember was seeing alot of fire.

"What's going on?" King asked as he and the others woke up and looked around.

"I think Chrys just had a bad dream or something." Faith replied with a yawn.

"Are you sure it was just a dream?" Wesley asked as he pushed stop on the VCR, cutting off the Wizard of Oz movie they were watching, before picking up a pencil and pad. "Maybe it was a vision you had in your dream. Perhaps..."

"Wes, let her breathe." Faith said with a raised eyebrow. "She's..." before she could complete her sentence she turned her attention to the TV, after seeing a ship capsized. Picking up the remote control she turned up the volume.

_And in other news an oil tanker in the Boston harbor has over turned spilling tons of oil. We still don't know what overturned the tanker but eyewitnesses claim that they saw a giant white beast near where the accident happened._

"Guys let's get down there and check this..."

_This just in._ The newscaster said urgently. _There's a hostage situation at the Trinity church of Boston. A man only identified as wearing a long dark trench coat and having pale skin has completely taken over the church and is holding twelve children hostage. He refuses to let any police get close to the building and claims that Faith will be the only thing to set the children free._

"Faith will be the only thing to set them free?" King questioned. "Do you think it's one of our enemies calling us out?"

"I don't know but we're gonna find out." Faith said gathering her shoes. "King you and Tara are with me. We're going to the church. Wes you take Alonna and Chrys down to the docks and see what's going on."

Giving Wes a look, that said take care of his cousin, the ex-Watcher nodded as they gathered their clothes, weapons, and then left. Sneaking out of the vail of darkness Michelle dug into her overcoat and took out something small. Looking around the room she saw their weapons cabinet and smiled. Placing her present inside, she smiled to herself before stepping back into the shadows.

Boston Pier

Some Time Later

Watching as the police drove their squad cars further down the pier, the group rounded a corner, and Wesley saw some movement going on under the cover of darkness.

"Hey, Wes that's a nice dagger." Alonna complimented, as she saw it's wicked design.

"Thank you. Chrystal bought it some time ago for me." he answered.

"You think you could throw it?"

"I guess." Wesley said, giving her a look. "Why?"

"Because of that!" she yelled pointing ahead of him. Turning they saw a demon leaping over the railing out side the dock. Alonna jumped back with a scream as the demon came charging at them. The demon, scimitar raised above it's head, fell backwards onto the ground, the dagger buried in his chest and one of Chrystal's crossbow bolts in its neck.

"Is that it?" Chrystal asked, taking the dagger out of his chest and handing it back to Wesley. "That thing doesn't look anything like what was reported on the news."

"That's because he was an underling of mine." a voice said from the shadows. Looking up they saw an enemy they thought was long dead.

"50...50-Below?" Wesley asked taking a step back.

"In the flesh." the demon baboon said with a snap of his fingers making ten of his demonic monkey demons appear. "Kill them all."

Trinity Church

Going on the opposite end of the church from where the police were, Faith and the others looked up at the gothic looking building with a huge metal locked gate around it.

"Great." King started as he grabbed a metal bar and shook it. "Now how the hell are we gonna get in? Oops, sorry God." he ammended.

"Guess we do this the old fashioned way." Faith said with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Tara asked, as Faith jumped ten feet into the air and over the other side of the gate. "Oh."

"I hope God doesn't mind," Faith said kicking the door to the gate hard, making it snap open. "but we're breaking into his house."

Faith ran towards the building, hid behind some bushes and looked through a large glass doors, seeing a tall figure standing over a group of frieghtened looking children. Angered that someone would dare try to hurt kids, she ran out from behind a bush, jumped over a low wall, picked up a metal garbage can and tossed it through the glass doors, shattering them. Even as the children started to scream, the figure of the man stood unmoving.

"What kinda fruit cake holds little kids as hostages?" she asked as Tara and King ran into the church.

"The kind that knows how to set a trap." the age old vampire replied.

"M...Morlun?" Faith asked, her voice cracking as she and the others visibly flinched. "bu... but we ki..."

"Killed me." he finished for her, flashing his vampiric teeth in a toothy grin. "Yes, I was dead, but now I'm back and I've brought a little army with me." as he said that the gang heard growls coming from all around them. Looking up they saw that the children had surrounded them and had slipped into their vampiric visages.

"Fuck... sorry lord." King said looking to the heavens.

"I don't care how you came back." Faith said regaining her courage. "I just know how you're going to leave."

He ducked a roundhouse kick from her and she followed up with a kick to his face, that sent him stumbling back into a wall. Dodging her next attack he landed a punch on her chin, knocking her down, making her scramble up to avoid his follow-up kick. Getting in front of Tara, King swung his axe decapitating the nearest little tyke. Seeing one about to pounce on them from the side, Tara used her power to throw it against some of the others.

"We gotta get out of here." King whispered to Tara as he swung at a vampire and hit him in the face. "We're seriously about to be out gunned here."

"J...just keep them busy." Tara said thinking what to do. "I'm gonna make a distraction so we can get out of here." suddenly Morlun punched Faith in the face so hard that she sailed past them and out of the broken glass doors. "N...nevermind." she said as they both turned and ran out of the church. Chuckling heavily Morlun and his demon puppets watched as the three fled the area.

"Soon little one... oh so very soon." Morlun mumbled with a laugh.

Moments Later

"Faith, Wesley is already at the office." King said into his cellphone. After their fight with Morlun, they had tried to call Wesley, but he didn't answer his phone prompting the Slayer to head towards the docks. "Everybodies okay, but get this... our monkey friend 50-Below is back. Okay... okay, he's already researching on how they came back. See ya when you get back." he said hanging up the phone. Seeing Chrys on the couch shivering he sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her neck. "hey we're gonna make it through this. Don't worry."

"I can't stop worrying." Chrys said leaning into his embrace. "Something just doesn't feel right here." not knowing how true her statement was their lives were about to change forever.

A Boston Street

Sametime

Closing her cellphone, Faith was about to get back onto her bike when she suddenly felt a chill in the air. Snatching the top bundle of newspapers off of a newspaper stand, she swung them like a brick, decking the first of three vampires trying to attack her from behind. As the leader went down, the other two charged her, one punching while the other swung her around by the arms and into a group of high pressure gas cylinders. Ripping the nozzle off one of the cylinders, she sent a blast of high pressure gas into the faces of the attacking vampires. Pressing the advantage as they screamed in pain and staggered backward, she kicked one to the ground and decked the second. The third vampire however slammed her into the wall of a nearby guard booth, stunning her long enough for the other two to grab her by the arms and immobilize her.

"Let me guess. You guys are out-of-towners right?" Faith asked. "You don't know who I am?"

"We're from Florida and we know exactly who you are, Faith." the leader said with a growl. "We were sent here by, Vergil."

The creature smiled and moved in for the kill but she kicked him hard in the face. As he went down, she broke free from the other two. Throwing them off guard, she triggered a spring-loaded stake on her wrist and quickly killed one of the vampires as the other one got to his feet and charged. Seeing him coming she leapt onto the roof of the guard booth at the last instant. The vampire's momentum carried him headfirst through the booth's glass window, shattering it. As the creature slid back out of the booth onto the ground, stunned, she dropped down next to it and slammed her stake home, leaving nothing but dust.

The last vampire charged Faith with an enraged snarl and knocked her stake free. Growling herself, Faith beat him back with a rapid flurry of punches, then lifted him up and hurled him 20 feet into the air where he slammed into a billboard and dropped to the ground. Faith then picked the stake up off the ground and smiled cruelly at the vampire as it got to its feet.

"Welcome to Boston." she greeted as she whipped the stake at the vampire and watched as it struck its mark. The creature disintegrated with a howl of rage as she looked down at the dusty remains and shook her head. "Tourists…"

Hearing a clamouring noise, she looked up as a gang of five more vampires sauntered down the street toward her. With a roll of her eyes, she watched warily as three more dropped from the rooftops at the opposite end.

"Damn, now I'm glad I never got that manicure that Chrys wanted me to get." she said loosely to herself. "I might just break a nail."

* * *

Wesley and Alonna walked into the office carrying books on resurrection. He had to admit to himself that he never expected her to love researching so much. Quickly looking at her, he determined that she probably never had a proper male influence in her life that would push her to achieve more out of life. After talking with her and listening to her ideals and lots of arguing, he saw that she was alot smarter then what she seemed and he was determined to bring that out in her. Maybe he could even help her get back into school. Following her lead, they both went downstairs and into the apartment and they collectively saw the broken lock on the weapons cabinet. Sharing a look with her, he put the books down and opened it slowly, then started to back away as he saw the present that Michelle had left behind.

* * *

Faith pulled up across the street and got off of her motorcycle, cracking her neck as she crossed the street, thinking that she'd get King to give her a massage later. When she was halfway across, a fiery blast came from the lower story lifting her into the air. She landed in a heap on the road while flames engulfed the building and car alarms started blaring all along the street.

"What the... what the fuck!" she yelled out as she got to her feet. Using her vampiric speed she ran into her burning apartment from the parking garage. "Wesley! King! King!!" yelling over the roaring fire she suddenly turned a corner and saw King laying on the stairs leading up. Leaning down she checked for a pulse and thanked whoever was listening upstairs that she found one. However weak it was.

Slinging him over her shoulder, she ran out, placed him on the street away from the fire and ran back in for the others. Finding them scattered all throughout the apartment, she didn't have time to check for their pulses as she ran back out the house gathering weapons and Wesley's first edition books as she went. By the time she got outside with the last of her friends some fire engines and police were in front of the building. She saw King, wearing an oxygen mask and being wheeled over to an ambulance, before running over to walk beside him. Not saying a word she watched as they loaded him and the others up before starting for her bike.

Driving in companionship with one of the ambulances she entered the hospital as they stopped and waited for what seemed like an eternity for some information on how they were doing. As she was about to walk up to the elderly receptionist, to demand an update, she saw a Doctor with scrubs walk into the room. His face grim.

"Are you, Faith Lehane?" the Doctor asked as he consulted his clip board.

"Yeah, now how the hell are my friends?" she demanded, noticing that he looked away from her.

"Your friends... your friends..."

"Spit it out, Doc!"

"All of your friends except, Malik Jones has died." the Doctor said with a frown, as the young woman in front of him started to shed red tears. After years on the job he could see from where he was standing that the red substance was blood. His heart going out to her, he watched as she ran past him and into the direction of the intensive care unit. Stopping the nurse from trying to call security, he sat down in a chair hating himself for having to deliver the bad news. It wasn't like it mattered much if the girl visited her friend anyway. From the looks of the injuries he recieved it didn't seem like he would make it through the night anyway.

* * *

Using only her sense of smell Faith found King's room in only two minutes. She could pick up the smell of the others, but she couldn't bring herself to look at their bodies. Especially not after she had failed them. Walking into his room for the second time in her life, she saw how truly fragile human life really was. King had all kinds of tubes running through his body and as she looked down at his face, she grimaced as she saw that one of his eyes was missing, even though the area was partially covered with guaze.

Walking fully into the room, she ran a delicate hand down his forehead, before she spoke. "Damn, bro it looks like they did a number on you."

"Yeah," King replied weakly as he opened his one remaining eye and tried to smile. "and it hurts worse then it looks. Wha... what about the others... Alonna, Tara..." seeing that she lowered her gaze, he closed his eyes trying not to break down and cry.

"What the hell happened?" she asked, giving him a moment.

"After... after, I called you..." he stopped for a second struggling to remember. "Wes told us to run. I was trying to get me and Chrys out of the apartment but then it exploded. Chrys was right... something was wrong." he said as he went into a coughing fit.

Quickly reaching for a glass she poured him some water, helped him to sit up some and put the glass to his lips. Watching as he drank a little, she lowered the glass and put it back on the little table that was in his room. Seeing that he had a serious look on his face, she was about to tell him not to say anything gloomy, but reaching out with her powers she felt that his heart was beating irregularly and that it would soon stop beating at all. Stopping her selfishness, at what was obviously going to be the last thing he would ever say to her, she did the one thing she hadn't done since birth. She shut the hell up and listened.

"I wanted you to know that... that when I was little, Damon killed my little sister." he started, not taking his gaze off of her. "Ooooo, I cursed God that night. But after all these years he finally gave me back what I had lost. I love you, Faith. I want you to always remember that. You know after all this time I thought that a vampire was gonna be the thing to kill..."

Before he could complete his sentence his good eye rolled up into the back of his head, as he struggled to breathe. Having to hold him down as his body violently began to spasm, Faith had to watch as her big brother gave up the fight and his lungs stopped pumping in air. As he finally stopped moving, she looked down at his face and saw a strangely serene look on it. Maybe it was because he knew that he was going to meet the others she would never know. Reaching down she closed his eye and silently walked out of the room.

As she walked out in the receptionist area she saw the old lady behind the booth calling her over.

"I... I hate to do this after your loss, but... but since you're the only one here we needed to know how you wanted to handle." she stopped for a second to collect her thoughts. "How you wanted to handle your friends bodies." snatching a pen off of the desk Faith scribbled something on a piece of paper and threw the pen back on the desk.

"You call that number and you tell, Whistler to take every damn dime out of my account and use it to bury my friends. And to make damn sure he buries them some place nice." she said as she turned to leave.

"Wait... where are you going!" the old lady shouted out to her.

"I'm going to join my friends." Faith whispered as she walked out of the hospital.

Going back to the burnt out apartment, she walked down an alley where she had stashed the gangs stuff. As she was about to gather a few things she heard it. It was the voice of one of her most hated enemies.

_Hey Firecracker, I know you can hear me._ Michelle's voice said into Faith's mind. Turning Faith looked around, trying to track the voice. _I see your friends found the little present I left._ she said with a hardy chuckle. With a growl Faith used her demonic reflexes to scale the building and as she looked around, she didn't see anyone in sight.

_Oh wrong building. Wanna try again or are you going to listen to me?_ feeling that she wasn't moving Michelle spoke again. _I'm tired of this little game of ours. Meet me downtown in an hour and a half and we'll finally finish this._

Getting a whiff of her scent, Faith jumped from building to building and as she had finally tracked where the voice had come from, she found that Michelle was long gone. Yeah she was definately going to kill that bitch when she got the chance. But she had to do two things first. Dropping back down to the ground and into the alley, splashing up water as she did so. Going through the stuff she suddenly spotted two of Wesley's 9mm's. Twirling them easily around her slender fingers, she holstered them in her inner duster pockets. Picking up Alonna's scrunchie, she sadly squeezed the fabric. She had barely gotten to know the girl and she was already gone. Using it to tie her hair back into a pony tail, she looked again into the clutter of what once used to be her and her friends lives and she nearly shed a tear at what she saw next.

Under the rubble and debris she saw a necklace she had bought Chrystal for her birthday, the gem of amarra ring Tara made her that let her walk in sun light and King's father's axe. Placing the necklace around her neck and the ring on her slender finger, she slowly picked up her friend's weapon. The metal was still hot from the fire and the edge at the bottom seemed to have melted some. Finding the back sheathe for it she strapped it to her back and headed towards her motorcycle. If she going to go to battle, she was going to do so carrying the spirits of her friends. But first she had to make a pit stop.

Surburban Area

Moments Later

Quickly ringing the doorbell to a nice two story home, a shadowy figure ran off into the night. As a middle aged woman opened the door, to the house she looked down and her eyes widened as she saw a Winnie the Pooh and a Tigger stuffed animal sitting on the door step. Looking around as she heard the loud roar, confused she took the birthday hat off of her head before bending down to pick them up and when she did, she saw a small sheet of paper stuck to Tigger that had her adoptive daughters name on it. Walking back into the house, her husband gave her a questioning look before she walked past him and down the hallway where the bedrooms were.

"Anne, honey." Mrs. Thomas said as she lightly knocked on the door. "I'm coming in. I have something for you." as she said that she opened the door and walked into the room only to find the little girl with her back turned to her watching her TV. "Honey look what somebody got for you." she said bending over her and placing the stuffed animals in front of her. Seeing that the little girl still wasn't about to talk, she kissed her softly on the forehead and walked out of the room.

After a few moments of silence and watching TV, Anne's childish curiosity took over and she saw the stuffed animals. As she reached for them she saw that a piece of paper was sticking out of the little back pack Pooh was wearing. Snapping it open, she pulled out the folded piece of paper and she saw her full name written in bold on the top. 'Tiffany Anne Hope.' Not caring much, she looked into the pack again and saw a small red gem she started to read the letter, her little hands clenching the paper as she read it.

_I know that you're still a little kid and I don't know how much of this you'll understand, but I wanted to say that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for you ever being born in a place full of monsters, I'm sorry for what I did to your ma, and I'm sorry for the pain I put you through. Not to sound all stalkerish but I've been watching and keeping tabs on you from time to time. Not that these people can ever replace your ma, but they seem like they genuinely care about you. They're a hel... oops... I gotta remember you're still a kid. They seem to be alot better then my ma was. But this isn't about me, it's about you. I know what I took away from you and I'm not asking for us to be Five by Five, but I'm asking for you to live your life. You're still young and you have people in your life now that'll try to make sure you have a long healthy life. To be honest with you I don't think I'll make it out of the mess I made and I know now how you feel to lose your family because of a monster. I guess we're one in the same now. Anyway I'm sorry for what I did and maybe in another life we'll meet again to settle the score._

_Faith_

Anne read and reread the letter over and over again, before putting it back into Pooh's back pack. Collecting her new stuffed playmates, she shut off the TV, before sitting them on the bed and laying down herself. So the girl... the thing... that had taken her life from her was named Faith. She couldn't help but find the irony in that. Laying back in her bed, she drifted off to sleep but unlike last time she did dream. She dreamt of her revenge. Unknown to her at the time but the gem of Illyria started to glow.

* * *

Faith leaned further over the handlebars of her motorcycle, squinting against the rain that stung her now cold emotionless eyes. The bike fought for traction against the slippery road, kicking up a spray of water around her. As she drove further downtown, she looked around at the people running from the rain. If they only knew that rain was the least of their worries tonight, they'd be running for their lives. Spotting a couple further down the street, holding hands walking slowly in the rain, sickened her. Now was not the time for love.

Suddenly the sky above them turned and twisted into blood red pools of energy. Lightning crackled out of the pools of energy and crashed to the ground as the people on the streets ran in panic and screamed as they struggled to escape the fiery energy speeding towards them.

Twisting the bike to the side Faith stopped her motorcycle and looked up at the sky as people ran around her in a desperate attempt to try to escape the streets. As the streets finally cleared, Faith found herself alone. Or so she thought. As she looked around the empty streets, her impatience grew as she sensed something demonic. "Come out!" she shouted.

Looking further down the street she saw a figure emerging out of the shadows. Using her vampiric sight she saw that it was Morlun. Lowering her head she started to mumble to herself.

"God I loved this bike." she said quietly as she revved the engine. Aiming it like a bullet at her opponent, she jumped up and did a backflip high into the air, and as the bike turned sideways and started to skid on the ground kicking up sparks, she whipped out Wesley's glocks and shot the gas tank. The explosion was deafening and as she finally landed on the ground, she saw as it's flames licked around Morlun's body setting him on fire.

Spinning the guns around her fingers she holstered them in her inner pockets and took out Tara's ring and slipped it on. As she was about to walk up to where Morlun was, to try to finish him off, she suddenly felt a prescense beside her. As she tried to look over, to see where to dodge it was already too late as Fifty Below rammed into her, knocking her nearly the length of the street, where she violently crashed through the glass front of an electronics store.

"Do you think, I hit her too hard?" Fifty asked with a laugh as Morlun stood beside him, unscathed from Faith's earlier attack. As if to answer his question King's axe came soaring out of the shop and embedded itself in Fifty Below's head, knocking him up and off of his feet. Standing fully to her feet Faith ran out onto the street and came face to face with the age old vampire.

"You're all alone little one." Morlun said as he stretched his hands down and Faith watched as metal coils wrapped itself around them, before he jumped at her. Seeing him coming fast, she ducked and hit then kicked him as he got back up. With a growl Morlun hit Faith in the stomach then the back dropping her to the ground, before throwing her across the street.

Hearing a whistling sound in the air, she was just able to catch her axe as it was thrown in her direction by Fifty Below as he walked towards her. His wound instantly healing. With a hearty chuckle he and Morlun started to surround her on both sides. But that was about to be the least of her problems.

She raised her axe in a fighting stance as a wide smile seemed to split the shadows, a few inches from her face, before vanishing into the blackness. Suddenly a figure emerged from it and jumped down from a neighboring building towards her while bringing a katana blade down towards the vampiress' back. Feeling the close proximity Faith flipped out of the way as the blade struck the ground behind her. Taking advantage of her increased speed she then dodged the shower of blue energy blades that flew at her from all directions.

Watching as they broke and shattered she pulled herself together again when she heard the hollow sound of footsteps heading towards her. The echoing footsteps reverberated in her ears as two sets of eyes came closer and closer, growing larger and more malevolent by the second.

"This is your last chance Faith." Vergil started as he tapped the dull end of his sword across his shoulder. Michelle and the others coming up behind him, completely surrounding her. "Join us or die." spitting blood up into his face, seemed to answer his question. With a snarl he lifted up his sword and watched as she closed her eyes. "Option B then."

Before the sword could make contact with her flesh, Faith felt something in her soul burn. She somehow tapped into her real power.

Opening her eyes as if in slow motion she saw Yamato's blade dangerously close to her head. Using speed she never knew she possessed, she did a backflip and dodged the attack. Time speeding back up, she watched as the sword struck the ground emmitting sparks.

"What the..." even though Faith was wobbling on her feet, Vergil still picked up an even larger amount of power coming from her. "No!!" he screamed out as Michelle brushed past him and ran towards the Slayer. Outstretching her hand, her axe flew towards her by an unseen power. As the blades edge passed by Michelle, she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and watched as the axe landed safely in Faith's hands.

It was a long few moments, but Michelle finally spoke.

"Damn..." she said lowly as a razor thin red line appeared on her neck. Her head falling off of her shoulders, it and her body crumbled into dust.

"I got one, bitch out of the way." Faith said breathing heavily, sweat pouring off her brow. "Whose next?"

"Finally you've recognized your true power, little one." Morlun said as he watched Faith drop King's axe to the ground. "Hopefully you can fight me alone this time."

Giving him a winning smile, before spitting a glob of blood on the ground, Faith shifted into her vampiric visage. "Believe me, I ain't gonna fight alone."

Rolling her hands into fists, Faith ducked Morlun's first attack, before snapping out a roundhouse kick towards his head that he merely sidestepped. Lunging forward he wrapped his hands around her throat at break neck speed, trying to lift her off of the ground. With a forward punch, to the age old vampire's face, she shattered his nose making him enraged.

Letting her go, he slammed a fist against her side, smashing her ribs. Seeing that he caught her off guard, he then kicked her so hard, she was lifted off the ground, allowing him to catch her and toss her through the air. As Faith crashed to the ground and rolled across the street, Morlun walked behind her laughing merrily from deep inside his throat.

Not giving him the chance to gloat, like the typical villain would've at that moment, Faith sprung to her feet and leapt through the air, kicking him on the back while jumping over him. As she did that she saw something that she knew would end this fight, but getting to it was going to be tricky.

Pressing forward she sent out a punch , only for her nemesis to grab her wrist, while at the same time kicking the legs out from under her. As she was going down, he violently kicked her in the chest. Somehow managing to turn her body, she rolled into a crouched position on the ground, and in the same motion sprang forward sending a kick towards his head.

Seeing it coming, Morlun caught her leg and swung her around in a circle, before throwing her onto the ground, concrete cracking upon the impact of her body. But this was where Faith wanted to be. Snatching up Michelle's sword, she swung it around in one fluid motion, slicing Morlun's torso in half, along a diagonal axis. Eyes widening in terror, he sank to his knees as the two halves split apart, turning to ash before they hit the ground.

A chain, as cold and chilled as Death's touch, suddenly wrapped around Faith's neck. As her hands went to her throat, Fifty Below swung her around in circles and violently smashed her against nearby buildings. Still holding onto the sword, even after hearing several ribs break, Faith used Michelle's sword to cut into the chain instantly releasing it's hold on her. Sucking in air she really didn't need, Faith bruised, beaten and battered, struggled to get back to her feet.

"That all you got banana boy?" Faith asked as she wobbled unsteadily on her feet. "Come on!"

With a wicked grin Fifty Below raised a hand and they both watched as a small ball of white energy appeared in the palm of his hand, As the swirling ball of ice energy gleamed in the darkness of night, the monster prepared his last and ultimate attack. Feeding more power into the ball, it turned into a volley ball sized sphere. Grinning madly he threw it at her. Which made her smile.

Jumping over the attack that was meant for her, she brought her sword down and into his skull. Kicking him in the chest and pulling out her sword, she spun almost ballet like and rammed the blade hilt deep into his heart, twisting it as she ripped it out. Cold white blood shot from the demon babboons chest as he fell to his knees and looked at Faith's back in disbelief.

"A child..." he managed to get out as he fell face first to the ground, convulsing and dying from massive blood loss.

Looking at the 'winter wonderland' that Fifty Below had created with his last attack to the buildings and street, Faith wondered silently to herself what would've happened to her if she were hit with it. Turning at the sound of Vergil clapping.

"You're even better then I thought you'd be." Vergil said as he stopped clapping. "But now it's time to finish our little dance."

"My thoughts exactly." Faith replied as she quickly plunged her sword into the street and whipped out Wesley's guns and started firing. Anticipating this action Vergil spun his sword around seemingly stopping all of the bullets. Stopping his famous spinning combination he put the tip of the sword on the ground, and moved it to reveal seven bullets. With a smile, he used his sword like a golf club before hitting the bullets and sending them back towards Faith.

Ripping the sword out of the ground, Faith spun it aswell effectively destroying them. Grasping her sword tighter Faith put the unsharpened side of it on her shoulder, as they eyed each other curiously.

"Before I more or less start kicking your ass, I gotta ask..." Faith started as she tapped the sword across her shoulder. "You really didn't give a shit about Michelle did you?"

"Well if you must ask, no I didn't care about her at all. I only needed her strength." holding his sword in the air black mist came from the ash of Morlun, Michelle, and the body of Fifty Below and went into his body, giving him a sinister blue glow. Dark energy swirled around the skies of Boston as he then spoke to her in a more demonic sinister tone. "Thanks for the power boost."

With a mere snap of his finger creatures of all shapes and sizes appeared out on the streets. Each one stood growling and drooling, as others twirled weapons around. Each of them was dark with black cloaks over their featureless bodies. Looking past them and up into the sky Faith noted that the sun would be coming back soon. Giving her ring finger a quick glance she watched as the mock gem of amarra shattered, dispersing it's energy going back into the earth from which it came.

Grinning from ear to ear at her prediciment, Faith lowered her head in deep thought. Smiling himself, thinking that he had her defeated Vergil ordered his minions to attack. Hearing the first of their footsteps. Faith snapped her now red eyes open and ran through their lines with a vampiric scream.

Flipping over her first opponent Faith swung her sword, but it was blocked by the strikes of the demon's sickle blade. The others circled around her, and one speared his staff towards her. At the last possible second she moved and the creature stabbed his partner making him crumble into ash. Using the distraction, Faith twisted around and swung the blade sideways towards all of the creatures at one time. For a moment no one moved, until one of the monsters top half slid off of it's shoulders, the other following suit as they fell down from their wounds and crumbled into dust.

Seeing that she only had a few seconds of precious darkness left, before the sun came out, she ran at Vergil in full force. Slamming a flying kick against his head, she watched as he stumbled back. Before she could take advantage of his daze, he swiped back with his sword aiming at her head. Blocking the blow with her sword, she sidekicked him in the ribs.

Ducking another swipe, she followed up with a swipe of her own, cutting a thin line across his chest. Not giving him the time to react she brought the sword all the way back and stabbed him hilt deep through the heart. Letting go of the sword, she watched as he took a few stumbling steps back, but to her surprise he started to laugh.

"Come on, is that the best you got?" he asked, mockingly, already starting to pull the sword out.

"No." she said with no emotion as she snapped her finger and watched as a small stream of fire hit him on the chest where he was bleeding, igniting a spitfire that engulfed him. It was the only magical trick that Tara was able to teach her. Not getting the chance to enjoy her victory, Faith suddenly felt a warmth on her face. Looking up at the sky she smiled at her ;ast time at being able to see a sunrise. For her part she didn't scream as the sun burned her all away.


	17. Epilogue

Epilogue

She felt nothing. For a time she was nothing. Groggily hearing a voice call out her name Faith opened her eyes and saw that she was in a world that looked surreal. It still seemed like it was earth, but the sky was too blue, the sand under her feet, was too...sandy, and the sun seemed a little too red and bright. Doing a double take at her last thought, she looked up to the sky and took a good long look at the sun and then down at her hands. She wasn't burning up, her wounds were gone, and she was wearing an all white summer dress, a gentle wind blowing it in a breeze.

"What the fuck is..."

"Going on?" a voice finished for her.

Looking further down the beach Faith squinted her eyes, but the person she was looking at was unmistakable. "Buffy?"

"In the flesh." Buffy said, but then considered. "Well an ultra cool dream like version of me."

"What the hell is going on?" Faith asked anyway, only for someone to grab her from behind.

"I might be able to tell you." Xander said as he pulled her into a slow cumbersome dance. One that she fell into step with and couldn't pull away from.

"Or maybe, I can." a familiar voice said as she was turned around, forced to dance with another partner. One that she found she couldn't spit on or atleast hit. "You're dead, Faith." Vergil informed her, as he spun her around brought her back to him and dipped her.

"Get your fucking hands off of me."

"Suit yourself." he replied with a shrug as he did as she asked and let her go only for her to fall into the sand. Seeing that Buffy, Vergil, and Xander were standing together, she watched in awe as they looked at something ahead of her and started to back up.

Turning her head in the sand, she saw a shadowy figure walking slowly towards them from further down the beach, darkness following behind her. As she got to her feet, the figure was suddenly standing face to face with her. It was a woman a little bit older then her with long blond and blue hair, wearing skin tight black and brown leather clothes with ice cold emotionless blue eyes.

"Who the fuck are you?" Faith asked, even though the woman seemed slightly familiar.

"She's the beginning of your destiny." Buffy muttered from behind her.

"Don't I look familiar to you, Slayer?" the woman asked. "Maybe this form will help." stepping back she tranformed into a little girl. A little girl Faith instantly recognized.

"Anne?"

"Yes." she replied, her voice regal, sounding much older then her small appearance gave away. With a sneer on her lips, she transformed into Anne's adult appearance. Her strong liquid brown eyes burning into Faith's "But now my name is Illyria the goddess of time."

"What the..."

"You're the one that did this too me." Illyria went on. "When I got your little letter, I swore that I'd dedicate my life to hunting you down. It took me almost twenty years but thanks to this gem you left me, I found out all about the deeper well and I opened the tomb of the old one and I came back in time."

"I thought Tara said that, that thing didn't have any power." Faith mumbled to herself.

"Ahhh, your little witch friend." Illyria started as she tossed the gem up in the air and caught it. "You know all you have to do is take this from me and you can get out of purgatory and go back in time to save your friends."

"Why don't you?" Faith asked, making the goddess look over at her. "Why don't you go back in time and save your, ma?"

"My mom's death is irrelevant at this point, Slayer ." Illyria said as she cocked her head to the side. "Besides I have to help retake over the world and you are someone that could stand in my way."

"What are you a retard or something?" Faith asked as she wrinkled her brow, seeing that the girl had fully given over to hate she knew that their was no hope for her now. "I'm already dead." she said causing Illyria to smile, even though she registered that the word retard was an insult.

"How little you understand of your heritage little one. Some Slayers always come back."

"Yeah, like Buff..." as she turned around she saw that Buffy, Vergil, and Xander were gone. If they were nothing more then a figment of her imagination she would never know. Shaking her head of those thoughts, she again looked back and saw that Illyria was staring at her intently. "So all I have to do is take that back from you?"

"Looks like." the woman spoke as she went back to having Illyria's form. Stretching her hand out a long staff flew from the ground and into her hand, as she expertly spun it around.

"Alright then." Faith said as she looked down at her body and saw that she was now back in her leather clothes and was holding Ravager, Michelle's sword. _I'm sorry about this kid._ she thought to herself.

With animalistic growls the two launched at each other across the sand a single ringing clang of metal pierced the growing darkness of the now night sky.

Boston Street

"You're all alone little one." Morlun said as he stretched his hands down and Faith watched as metal coils wrapped itself around them. To his surprise she just smiled at him.

"No, I don't think so." she replied as King, Tara, Wesley, Alonna, and Chrystal stepped out of the shadows behind her. She had went back in time to just before the bomb exploded and saved her friends.

"This can't be... how..."

"Let's just say I have plenty of time on my hands." Faith said holding up the gem of Illyria as Vergil, Michelle, and Fifty Below stepped up behind Morlun.

"Now that you got that bad pun out of the way, it looks like the big fight scene." King said as he twirled his axe around.

The two groups then looked at each other and without a word ran at each other, with the exception of Tara, in the most horrible animalistic way possible.

Faith's Apartment

Later That Night

After the massive battle and after taking nearly four showers, to get the blood and gunk off of her, Faith walked into her living room and saw the gang on her couch and on the floor fast asleep. She couldn't believe it that hours before these same people were dead. Finishing drying her hair, she threw the towel on the floor and as she was about to go to her bedroom, she suddenly saw King staring at her. Not saying a word she sat next to him on the couch and curled up in his arms, just like old times.

"You tell anybody about us cuddling and, I'll kill you." Faith whispered on his neck. She decided not to tell them what had happened in the alternate timeline.

"Gotcha." he whispered back as he tightened his grip around her slender shoulders.

"We won't tell either." Chrystal murmured, her eyes still closed.

"Yeah, now you two shut up and get some sleep." Alonna added snoring a little.

Smiling down at each other King suddenly kissed Faith on the top of the head as she put her head on his chest to hear his heart beat. She had to make sure it was still there. Drifting off to sleep in his arms, she smiled knowing that her family was safe and that they could put this nightmare behind them.

Seeing enough through the small window that looked through Faith's place, Illyria turned and jumped out into the street, from the spot she was standing at. Walking into the advancing darkness for now she would let Faith and her family live, atleast until they destroyed a few major players of evil, saving her from having to get her hands dirty. Not that she minded getting them dirty, but with her army gone, destroyed by Wolfram and Hart it would make things a little difficult.

No, she would use Faith and the others to do the work for her and then take them out later down the road. Cocking her head to the side she wondered why humans cared so much about family. Ignoring that thought, she slid into the darkness, swearing that she would one day return to reclaim the world that was once hers.

The End?


End file.
